1. Mechanism of Elvanol in Paper Surface Treatment
In the modern paper industry, surface treatment has become an important means of increasing the added value of paper. Printability, surface strength, and barrier properties against oils and solvents all highly depend on the material selection of the surface sizing or coating system. Elvanol polyvinyl alcohol, as a high-performance water-based film-forming material, is widely used in paper surface treatment.
Elvanol is a fully or highly hydrolyzed polyvinyl alcohol with excellent film-forming ability. Its regular molecular chain structure allows it to form a continuous and dense film during drying, significantly improving the surface strength and barrier properties of the paper. Compared to using starch alone, the film formed by Elvanol is tougher, has stronger chemical resistance to oils, waxes, and solvents, and exhibits higher water resistance.
Using Elvanol in the sizing press or calendering stage can significantly improve the paper's resistance to linting, dusting, and cracking. Even at low addition levels (approximately 10% solids content), it can achieve surface strength and folding strength superior to traditional starch systems. This characteristic makes it particularly suitable for high-filler paper, recycled fiber paper, and paper types requiring high printability.
In addition, Elvanol has good compatibility and can coexist stably with modified starch, CMC, alginates, wax emulsions, and common papermaking additives, providing greater flexibility for papermaking process adjustments.
2. Application Advantages of Elvanol in Improving Barrier, Strength, and Printing Performance
♣ Surface Barrier Properties
Elvanol is one of the most powerful water-based barrier film-forming materials in the paper industry. The film it forms has a natural barrier effect against oils, greases, and organic solvents, and is therefore often used in applications such as greaseproof paper, oil-resistant packaging paper, and copier paper. In oil-resistant systems, Elvanol can also serve as an effective carrier for fluorochemicals, improving the stability and efficiency of the overall barrier system.
♣ Surface Strength and Structural Stability
Compared to starch-sized paper, paper treated with Elvanol exhibits superior resistance to surface abrasion, cracking, and linting. Its high bonding strength effectively binds fibers and fine surface particles, reducing linting and dusting, thereby lowering the frequency of blanket contamination and downtime for cleaning during printing. This advantage is particularly evident in high-speed offset printing and high-precision printing.
At the same time, Elvanol allows for a higher proportion of fillers or recycled fibers while maintaining strength, helping paper mills control costs while maintaining paper performance.
♣ Printability and Coating Suitability
Elvanol-treated paper surfaces are smoother and have excellent ink holdout. Due to its oil and solvent resistance, ink does not easily penetrate the paper base, resulting in higher print gloss and image clarity. In pigment sizing systems, Elvanol, as a binder, exhibits significantly stronger binding power than acrylic emulsions, styrene-butadiene latex, casein, and starch, and can replace traditional binders at certain ratios, optimizing the pigment/binder ratio.
3. Typical Elvanol Grades and Application Characteristics in Papermaking
Based on different paper types and process requirements, we offer a variety of product grades with different viscosities and structures. The following are commonly used grades in the papermaking industry and their application characteristics:
| Grade | Polymer Type | Viscosity Level | Key Functions | Typical Uses |
| Elvanol 71-30 | Fully hydrolyzed PVOH | Medium | Film forming, binding, grease resistance | Surface sizing; FWA carrier; lint and dust control; grease-resistant papers |
| Elvanol 80-18 | Fully hydrolyzed PVOH | Medium | Grease barrier, high solids stability | Grease-proof packaging papers; high-solids sizing and coating |
| Elvanol 85-82 | Fully hydrolyzed PVOH | Medium | Dry strength, water resistance | Folding and bursting strength improvement; creping aid |
| Elvanol 90-50 | Fully hydrolyzed PVOH | Medium–Low | Strong binding, rheology control | Coating binder; grease and water resistance; recycled board surface treatment |
| Elvanol 75-15 | Fully hydrolyzed PVOH | Medium–Low | Binder reinforcement | Starch reinforcement; lint reduction; high-solids sizing and coating |
In optical brightening systems, Elvanol acts as a carrier for fluorescent whitening agents (FWAs), significantly improving whitening efficiency. Adding Elvanol at 0.5–2.5% of the pigment weight in pigment systems results in significantly better whitening effects than using FWA alone, while also reducing the amount of traditional carriers such as starch and casein.
Website: www.elephchem.com
Whatsapp: (+)86 13851435272
E-mail: admin@elephchem.com
Jaringan IPv6 didukung
