Reactivity of dissolving pulps modified by TEMPO-mediated oxidation

The reactivity of dissolving pulps towards derivatization or dissolution is a crucial quality parameter and is mainly determined by the accessibility of the hydroxyl groups. When dissolving pulps are produced from paper-grade pulps by cold caustic extraction (CCE), their reactivity is often inferior as compared to commercial prehydrolysis kraft dissolving pulps. It was hypothesized that pulp reactivity can be enhanced by the introduction of small amounts of substituents to facilitate interchain accessibility. In this study, CCE-treated Eucalyptus globulus kraft paper pulp was subjected to TEMPO-mediated oxidation to initiate partial oxidation of the C6-hydroxyl groups to carboxyl groups. The effect of this pulp modification on the reactivity towards xanthation and the subsequent dissolution in diluted aqueous alkali solution (viscose process) as well as the dissolution in complexing and non-complexing solvents, respectively, was thoroughly examined. The results revealed that the oxidized pulps rich in C6-carboxylate groups impeded the xanthation reaction obviously because of the reduced availability of hydroxyl groups. When N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide monohydrate was used as a direct solvent, a very high content of C6-carboxylate groups was found to reduce the solubility of the pulp fibers as less hydrogen bonds can be formed with NMMO·H2O. In the case of dissolution in the complexing solvent cupriethylenediamine, the dissolution mechanism of cellulose was not deteriorated by the high content of C6-carboxylate groups. Instead, the oxidation procedure increased the hydrophilic character and the swelling capacity of the outer cell wall layers allowed homogeneous dissolution.