Original Research Article
Year: 2016 | Month: July | Volume: 3 | Issue: 7 | Pages: 26-30
Eco-Safe Handmade Paper Production from Rice Straws
Nalubega Shamim, Loum Janani, Tusimiire Yvonne
Department of Textile and Ginning Engineering, Busitema University, PO Box 236, Tororo.
Corresponding Author: Loum Janani
ABSTRACT
The study sought alternative eco-safe materials for production of handmade paper from rice straws. The rice straw fibers were pulped using selected eco-friendly materials viz; wood ash, soda ash (magadi), urea, potassium hydroxide and marcel soap each at concentrations of 4%, 6%, 8%, 10% and 12%).Starch and rosin were used as sizing agents. Selected paper properties namely; grammage, water absorbency, and tensile breaking strength were determined for each sample produced. Wood ash and marcel soap registered high grammage of 182gm-2 and 180 gm-2 respectively at 12% w/w. Urea, soda ash, and potassium hydroxide registered lower grammage. Marcel soap produced paper samples with the lowest Cobb value of 356 gm2 followed by wood ash at 360gm2 at the maximum concentrations. At the concentration of 12%, wood ash and marcel soap registered superior tensile breaking strengths of 1,520N and 1,518 Nrespectively and the weakest breaking strength of 1,116N was recorded by urea at the same concentration.
Keywords: Eco-safe, marcel soap, cob value, grammage, delignifying.