Nano Pulp and Paper, LLC

Highlights in global markets and emerging technologies

Forestry, as the raw material supplier for the paper and pulp industry, faces global demands to supply the Pulp & Paper Industry which has to produce new and improved paper products. Perhaps, better said, the industry has to come up with new, improved products to maintain a market-share of “paper like products”. Global markets and emerging technologies created a World-Wide Technocratic Place to compete in.

Growing demands are met by emerging new paper industries in Latin America, China, Indonesia, the Philippines and Far-East. These new pulp & paper production facilities implement the latest technologies. When latest technologies are combined with closeness to markets, low cost labor and consequently low cost raw materials, the industry becomes extremely competitive . To maintain competitiveness there are intensive money investments in developing high technology for pulp and paper production in Europe, particularly – in Sweden. North America’s pulp and paper industries also need to maintain cutting-edge technology. The Nano Pulp & Paper Company offers nanotechnology know-how and nano-processes, maintaining worldwide competitiveness for the North American Pulp & Paper Industry.

The Nano Pulp & Paper Company is affiliated with Louisiana Tech University. In the Institute of Micromanufacturing at Louisiana Tech University several nano-systems have been developed and a number of affiliate high-tech companies are emerging. Louisiana Tech University is located in North Louisiana, and we care about our local interests as well. Louisiana is a home for the forestry, pulp and paper industries. That is why it is so important to develop and improve pulp and paper technology in Louisiana and to establish the corporation between local paper mills and high tech companies like Nano Pulp and Paper.

The Nano Pulp & Paper Company is ready to implement proven nanotechnologies developed at Louisiana Tech and already implemented and used in pharmaceutical nano-encapsulation, microprocessors (nano-reactors), micromechanical equipment (MEMS), and computer process management industries. Layer by Layer (LbL) Assemblies are a must and are readily implemented into current paper making processes is the main trust of our expertise and patented pulp & paper nano-assembly processes and products.

Besides, we will use cellulose and other fiber materials for drug encapsulation and stabilizing colloidal solutions of different materials, such as organic dye microcores, ink colloids for ink-jet printer, and others.
· Urgent need of the pulp & paper industry is to compete globally by drastic improvements in manufacturing and product design and development. New synthetic nonrenewable materials are challenging the traditional dominance of paper products.
· Pulping, bleaching, process chemistry, paper coating, & recycling are key areas that will benefit in the near term from nanotechnology. The environmentally friendly processes offered through nano-assemblies assure global competitiveness and provide an important strategic benefit to the nation.
· Using pulp as smart nanomaterials for new application, such as drug and protein nanoencapsulation, stabilizing of colloids, and organic dye protective encapsulation.

Nanotechnology – what is it?

The best modern electronic and computer technology works in the micrometer scale. Nano technology uses much smaller scales, of thousandths of micrometer, which allows exploiting new properties of materials connected with their molecular organization and spending less material. In our approach, we use nano-coating with ultra-thin (less then one tenths of a micrometer) layers of polymers, nano (not micro) scale inorganic particles like clays, and lumen filling with polymer, calcium, and magnetic materials. Our nano assemblies are readily implemented and scientifically proven products and processes. One must acknowledge the one thousand fold difference between micro scale and nano scale technologies which we implement in our coating which is still a simple and easy to scale-up process.

What we can do with nanotechnology for pulp and paper production?

1) Nanoassembly on pulp fibers, to systematically modify their surface charge and roughness (to decrease pulp beating for energy saving); an application of nanocoating to make pulp homogeneous; development of a repair process for broken fibers for better recycling. Biometric approach for synthesis in fiber lumen to provide new properties (strength, conductivity). Using cellulose microtubules as a template for nano-, micro-integrated devices.

2) On pre-formed paper, to develop controlled loading (1 to 5 wt %) with nanoparticles, including clay and ceramic nano-tubules, and to enhance wet and dry strength. Control of paper wettability for better printing. Modification of permeability for paper filters by nano-organized polymer coating.

3) Smart paper with embedded sensors and polymeric micro devices - fluorescent nano-layers and polymeric microchips to convert paper passive matrix to active matrix.

4) Nano- and microcapsules for drug sustained release and targeted delivery, and stabilizing colloidal suspensions.

Examples of nano-treated pulp:

Fig. 1 The method of Nano Layering of Louisiana soft wood lignocelluloses pulp with alternation of surface potential to deposit alternating nano-layers of PAH and PSS. PAH – polyallylamine hydrochloride, PSS – sodium poly(styrene sulfonate).

Fig. 2 Nano processing of Louisiana soft wood pulp fibers showing fluorescent images of the longitudinal and cross-sectional faces of nano-coated fibers. The PAH coated both the outside surface and the inside lumen surfaces (green positively charged coating, red – negatively charged coating, layer thickness is 80 nm or 0.08 micrometers). Left images are longitudinal confocal faces, the right images are transverse confocal cross-sections of nano-coated fibers.

Example of nano-coated paper:

Fig.3 Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of pre-formed white-office paper (left), and same paper nano-coated with 2 wt % of magnetic nanoparticles (right).

Examples of drug nano and microcapsules

Fig. 4 Coated Furosemide microparticle and its sustained release (black squares) as compared with existing commercial product LasixR tablets (open circles)