JP3099147B2 - Processing agent for paper - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper processing agent used for imparting strength, particularly stiffness (stiffness), to paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Paper processing agents include starch, modified starch, cellulose polymer, polyvinyl alcohol, acrylamide polymer, styrene / maleic acid copolymer, styrene / acrylic copolymer. Water-soluble polymers such as
It has been known. Of these, oxidized starch, polyvinyl alcohol, and acrylamide-based polymers are the most common as paper processing agents. Particularly, acrylamide-based polymers have an excellent paper strength enhancing effect. Its usage tends to increase.

[0003] Meanwhile, among the conventional paper processing agents, an agent which claims to improve the stiffness of paper is disclosed in JP-A-57-1.
No. 71794 describes a paper coating composition in which a pigment and an adhesive are mixed with an acrylamide / unsaturated carboxylic acid copolymer having a specific monomer composition ratio and viscosity.
JP-A-59-130398 describes a composition for improving the rigidity of paper, comprising water glass and a polymer emulsion or latex in a weight ratio of 10:90 to 95: 5. Typical examples of the emulsion or latex include vinyl acetate / ethylene emulsion and methyl methacrylate / styrene / butadiene latex. Further, JP-A-60-252800 describes a paper coating agent containing a polymer obtained by radically polymerizing an acrylamide-based monomer in the presence of a polyvinyl alcohol-based polymer, Tokuhei 3-
No. 23678 discloses a paper coating agent containing a block copolymer consisting of a polyvinyl alcohol component and a polyacrylamide component.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Resource saving and energy saving
, The weight of newsprint, printing paper and the like has been reduced, and the basis weight has been reduced as compared with before. Generally, the stiffness of paper increases in proportion to the cube of the thickness of the paper. Therefore, maintaining the stiffness of paper always poses a problem in reducing the weight of paper.
In the field of the information industry, which has recently undergone remarkable development, while the printing speed has been further increased, the tendency to use neutral paper as the paper has been increasing, but if the rigidity of the paper is insufficient. In addition, the rigidity of the paper is regarded as important in this field, because the paper supply / discharge to and from the information device and the paper passing property (paper traveling property) in the information device are hindered. Further, the stiffness of paper greatly affects the durability against crushing and blistering when articles are stored and stacked in a carton (box) of white paperboard. As described above, the stiffness of paper is an extremely important physical property. However, the conventional paper processing agent introduced above has a stiffness-improving effect, but is not always sufficient.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems The inventors of the present invention have conducted intensive studies with the aim of developing a paper processing agent exhibiting an effect of improving rigidity which is not inferior to that of a conventionally known paper processing agent. As a result, a specific water-soluble copolymer as shown below,
The inventors have found that the present invention has a remarkable effect on improving the rigidity of paper, and completed the present invention.

That is, the paper processing agent according to the present invention comprises: (a) 45 to 92 mol% of (meth) acrylamide; and (b) 1 to 15 mol% of α, β-unsaturated carboxylic acid or its carboxylic acid. (C) 2 to 20 mol% of N, N-dimethyl (meth) acrylamide; (d) 5 to 30 mol% of N-methylol (meth) acrylamide; and (e) N-methylol (meth). It is characterized by containing a water-soluble copolymer containing 0.3 to 1 mol of ethylene urea per 1 mol of acrylamide as a polymerization component. In this specification, the expression "(meth) acryl" means "acryl or methacryl", and therefore "(meth) acrylamide" means "acrylamide or methacrylamide". In the polymerization component of the present invention,
As the α, β-unsaturated carboxylic acid or a salt thereof as the component (b), (meth) acrylic acid, itaconic acid, maleic anhydride, maleic acid, fumaric acid and alkali metal salts thereof can be used. Especially, itaconic acid and male
Acids are preferred.

The processing agent of the present invention can be prepared by dissolving the above-defined components (a) to (e) in water at a concentration of 5 to 30% by weight and copolymerizing the same in a conventional manner. It is preferable that the N-methylol (meth) acrylamide as the component (d) be modified with the ethylene urea as the component (e) before the copolymerization. If the component (d) is subjected to the polymerization reaction without prior modification, gelation occurs during the progress of the polymerization reaction, and a stable copolymer cannot be obtained. The amount of ethylene urea required for the denaturation is per mole of N-methylol (meth) acrylamide.
It is in the range of 0.3-1 mol, preferably 0.5-0.9 mol. In the present invention, it is also important to select the use amount of each polymerization component within the above range, and a copolymer prepared outside this range is expected to have a sufficient rigidity improving effect. And the stability of the copolymer itself decreases. The polymerization reaction usually proceeds in the presence of a suitable polymerization initiator. Examples of the polymerization initiator include peroxides such as hydrogen peroxide, ammonium persulfate, potassium persulfate, ammonium hydroperoxide, and the like. And various redox initiators commonly used in combination with
Any water-soluble azo initiator such as azobis (aminopropane) hydrochloride can be used.

[0008] The paper processing agent according to the present invention can be applied to all papers requiring improvement in stiffness. For example, the present invention is applied to paperboard, general high-quality paper, neutral high-quality paper , information industry paper and the like. By applying the processing agent of the above, their rigidity can be improved. When applying this processing agent to paper, any of the conventionally known coating methods can be adopted, and therefore, impregnation, spraying, air knife coater, blade coater, roll coater, size press, etc.
It can be arbitrarily adopted in on-machine or off-machine such as a calender and a calender . In the processing agent of the present invention, an antifoaming agent, a release agent, a slime control agent and the like which are usually added to this kind of agent can be blended as necessary, and according to the purpose of the processing. The agent of the present invention can be used by being appropriately mixed with other known processing agents.

[0009]

The mechanism by which the excellent stiffness improving ability observed in the processing agent of the present invention is brought about has not been sufficiently elucidated at present. However, anionic groups of α, β-unsaturated carboxylic acids or salts thereof, N-methylol (meth) modified with ethylene urea
The methylol group of acrylamide, furthermore, the crosslinking reaction between the amide group of (meth) acrylamide and N, N-dimethyl (meth) acrylamide, and the hydrogen bond involving the hydroxyl group of pulp fiber contribute to the improvement of rigidity. It is presumed that it is doing.

[0010]

EXAMPLE Preparation of Water-Soluble Copolymer In a four-necked flask equipped with a stirrer, thermometer and nitrogen inlet tube, 75 g of 40% acrylamide, 2 g of itaconic acid, N,
2.6 g of N-dimethylacrylamide and 120 g of soft water were charged and adjusted to pH 5 with a 10% aqueous potassium hydroxide solution. Separately, 5.2 g of N-methyl acrylamide and 3.1 g of ethylene urea were mixed with 20 g of soft water to give ethylene urea-modified N
28.3 g of an aqueous solution of methylolacrylamide was prepared, mixed with the solution in the flask, introduced with nitrogen gas, and then heated to 35 ° C. Then, 2 ml of a 5% aqueous ammonium persulfate solution and 2 ml of a 5% aqueous sodium bisulfite solution were added to initiate polymerization. After keeping the temperature at 70-80 ° C. for 3 hours to complete the polymerization reaction, the pH was adjusted to 7.0 with a 10% aqueous potassium hydroxide solution, and the copolymer 1 having the properties shown in Table 1 was obtained.
I got Copolymers 2 to 8 and comparative copolymers 1 'to 3' shown in Table 1 were prepared by the same preparation method as for Copolymer 1 except that the charged amounts of the respective components were changed.

[0011]

[Table 1]

Examples 1 to 8 Copolymers 1 to 8 shown in Table 1 were each diluted to a solid content of 3%, and the aqueous solution was coated on both sides of untreated fine paper 52 g / m ² by a roll coater. After that, the steam pressure was increased to 1.
It was dried for 1 minute with a steam dryer of 5 kg / cm ² to obtain a surface-treated paper. The paper quality of the obtained surface-treated paper was tested by the following method. (1) IGT use test machine: IG manufactured by Kumagai Riki Kogyo Co., Ltd.
T printing suitability tester Ink used: Toyo Ink Co., Ltd., black ink, tack value 2
0 Printing pressure 50 kg / cm, Spring drive B The larger the numerical value, the higher the surface strength. (2) Stiffness JIS P-8143 "Stiffness test method of paper by its own weight bending method" (Clark method) The higher the value, the higher the rigidity.

[0013] Using the comparison copolymer 1'～3 'instead Comparative Examples 1-3 Copolymer 1-8
A surface-treated paper was prepared in exactly the same manner as in the examples described above except for the above, and the paper quality was evaluated in the same manner as in the examples. Reference Examples 1-3 PVA instead of copolymers 1-8, X-coat P-215,
A surface-treated paper was prepared in exactly the same manner as in the above-described Examples except that oxidized starch was used, and the paper quality was evaluated in the same manner as in the Examples. Table 2 shows the paper quality test results of the surface-treated paper obtained in each of Examples, Comparative Examples, and Reference Examples.

[0014]

[Table 2]

As is apparent from the results shown in Table 2, the processing agent of the present invention exerts an excellent effect on imparting strength and rigidity to paper, as compared with the agents used in Comparative Examples and Reference Examples. I do.

Continuation of front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) D21H 11/00-27/42

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] (1) 45 to 92 mol% of (meth) acrylamide, (b) 1 to 15 mol% of an α, β-unsaturated carboxylic acid or a salt thereof, and (c) 2 to 20 mol%. N, N-dimethylacrylamide, (d) 5 to 30 mol% of N-methylol (meth) acrylamide, and (e) 0.3 to 1 mol of ethylene per mol of N-methylol (meth) acrylamide urea,
A paper processing agent comprising a water-soluble copolymer containing as a polymerization component.