Analysis of CMC attachment onto cellulosic fibers by infrared spectroscopy

Infrared spectroscopy has been used to measure the amount of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) attached to cellulosic fibers. CMC was attached to an unbleached kraft pulp in aqueous conditions. Isotropic handsheets were then prepared and ATR spectroscopy was used to measure the intensity of the carboxyl vibration, which correlates to the amount of attached CMC that was determined using a wet chemical approach. The ATR method is rather time consuming as several measurement points on the sample have to be averaged, although it is still much faster than the wet chemical approach. Infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (IRRAS) using polarized light was further used to measure the amount of attached CMC. In this method the intensity of an electromagnetic wave confined to the thin layer is used to correlate the spectroscopy to the amount of CMC on the fiber surface in the paper sample. The measurement time is shorter than with the ATR method. The proposed IRRAS method could be employed as a fast and reliable way to quantify adsorption of chemicals on pulp fibers.