An investigation on the ability of Nanofibrillated cellulose to enhance the environmental sustainability of paper product manufacture

There are a number of products which are manufactured at a very large scale globally which are both energy and materials use intensive. In the case of paper and board manufacture, paper pulp (a mixture of cellulose, water and additives such as TiO2) require large quantities of cellulose, principally from trees and plant sources with the corresponding addition addition and removal of water by mechanical or thermal means.The objective of the study was to investigate the potential benefit if using a nanofibrillated form of cellulose (NFC) to reduce the total paper pulp quantities used while retaining paper mechanical and printing performance of the paper stock produced.