Effect of alkali treatment on single species wood pulp fiber properties for the application of nursing pad absorbent core

Department of Textile Technology, Anna University, Chennai-600 025, India E-mail: aswini_textiles@yahoo.com Manuscript received online 25 September 2019, revised 09 December 2019, accepted 10 December 2019 The present work aims to study the suitability of single species soft wood kraft pulp for the application of absorbent core of the nursing pad. Nursing pads are used inside the brassiere by the lactating mother to absorb the milk leaked from the breast, thereby avoiding the staining of the cloth and a possible embrassment. A new approach for preparing the single species pulp specifically for the production of wet-laid non-woven has been carried out. Alkali treatment at different concentrations ranging from 3% to 18% (w/v) NaOH was carried out to study its influence on the softness of the web produced. The NaOH concentration was optimized with 15% (w/v) based on the physical assessment of softness and flexibility. The properties of 15% NaOH treated and untreated wood pulp was compared. The NaOH treatment improved the absorbency behavior from 12.3 g/ g to 15.5 g/g due to the removal of hemicellulose, extractive content, and lignin. The results revealed the hemicellulose content of the untreated and treated pulp as 5.49% and 0.10% respectively. The extractive content of the untreated sample was 0.1% and the treated wood pulp was 0.04% and the kappa number was reduced from 1.409 to 0.93984. The fiber morphology of treated and untreated wood pulp was analyzed using fiber analyzer Kajaani FS 300 and the result revealed the changes in the fiber length, fiber width, fiber coarseness, fiber curl, and fiber kink, etc. These changes provide the suitability of the pulp for absorbent core production for the disposable nursing pad