Fiber Surface Modifications within Paper
Within the area Paper and Packaging, a major focus is placed on fiber surface modifications by internal sizing (hydrophobization).
In the process, paper and board are hydrophobized (sized) to control the spreading and absorption of water-based inks and retard the absorption and edge penetration of liquid packaging by aqueous liquids. Alkenyl ketene dimers (AKD) and alkenyl succinic anhydride (ASA) are synthetic sizing agents that are generally used under neutral pH papermaking conditions.
VINMER
A current focus is fiber modification in collaboration with Tokyo University and liquid imbibition studied state-of-the-art instrumentation such as micro-scale x-ray tomography in collaboration with University of Jyväskylä. These collaborations are partly funded by VINNOVA in a VINNMER grant to YKI researcher Rauni Seppänen.