Abstract
The adsorption of co-cationic dual polymer system was investigated as was the fiber dispersion stability of a paper stock suspension. Polyaluminum chloride(PAC) and polyamidoamine epichlorohy-drin(PAE) polymers were used as wet-end additives. The adsorbed amounts of PAE polymer in a wet stock were measured by using polyelectrolytic PCD titration. The sheet forming experiments were carried out in a standard handsheet machine. Fiber dispersion stability and relative retention were evaluated in terms of M/K non-uniformity index and sheet basis weight, respectively. The PAE polymer adsorption of Langmuir-isothermal type decreased with increasing PAC addition level. The combination of the two cationic polymers presumably exerts a site-blocking effect by the low molecular weight PAC which gives a partial charge neutralization at a minimum level of addition. From a thermodynamic view point of PAE adsorption, an increase in adsorption entropy and a decrease in train number suggests that the PAR polymer has an extended conformation structure that potentially leads to an enhancement of the fiber dispersion stability. This conclusion is supported by handsheet experiments that examined the PAC-PAE dual polymer effects on the sheet formation and retention.
