Calcium carbonate-carboxymethyl chitosan hybrid materials

Abstract

In the present work, precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) and carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC) were prepared to obtain new hybrid materials used in papermaking. In the first step, oc‐ curred the precipitation of CaCO3 in solution containing CMC at different levels (0.5%, 1%, and 1.5%). In the second step, PCC–CMC hybrid material (25%) was added to pulp suspension, and the sheets were made. The effect of PCC–CMC on paper properties (mechanical and optical) was sys‐ tematically investigated. Breaking length, the brightness and opacity of the sheets obtained with the PCC–CMC material were better than the sheets fabricated with the unmodified PCC at similar levels of content.