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Idea 02 of 06Borrowed from papermaking internal sizing chemistry

Paper sizing wax that grows a liquid barrier after bonding

Borrowing papermaking's internal sizing, we let a water-repelling wax spread over the fibres after bonding, so a film-free web may hold back liquid with its pores left open.

Fig. 1A papermaking wax that slowly creeps across fibres inside a drying sheet is reused inside the proposed film-free outercover, where its incomplete patches would hold body fluid back while the pores stay open to air.
Fig. 1

Paper sizing wax that grows a liquid barrier after bonding

A wide painterly scene. On the left a paper sheet runs over steam-heated drying cylinders of a paper machine; the sheet flows rightward into a soft absorbent hygiene pad laid open on a table, one corner cut away to show its fibrous outer cover. Two round magnifiers along the bottom show the same thing at fibre scale: crossing fibres around an open pore, tiny violet wax particles with thin red-orange patches spreading from them along the fibres, and blue liquid bulging into the pore but stopped at the patch edges, with air passing through.

A papermaking wax that slowly creeps across fibres inside a drying sheet is reused inside the proposed film-free outercover, where its incomplete patches would hold body fluid back while the pores stay open to air.

What is this idea, and what's clever about it?

Papermakers have long treated the slow, patchy spreading of sizing wax as a nuisance: coverage builds over days of storage and never completes, because the one-molecule film does not cover itself. This design turns that defect into the barrier, betting that the sharp edges where the film ends halt advancing liquid, so the barrier no longer depends on narrowing the pores that air and vapour also use. The source fits because a sized paper sheet faces the same task as a film-free hygiene web: it must resist water through an open cellulose network, and the fibre bonds form before the water-repelling surface does.

Where we’ve seen this before

Where is it inspired from?

Fig. 2In papermaking, wax particles on fibres repel water only once each one spreads a thin, patchy layer outward. The pores stay open, so the barrier comes from how the wax spreads, not from closing the sheet.
Fig. 2

Paper sizing wax that grows a liquid barrier after bonding

Two panels. Left: a paper machine's drying section with the paper sheet running over hot cylinders, and a magnifier showing a tiny wax particle on a cellulose fibre inside the sheet. Right: two identical close-ups of crossing fibres around an open pore with the same wax particles and the same water drop on top. In the first the particles stay as dots and water soaks into the pore; in the second each particle has spread a thin patchy red-orange layer, and the water beads at the pore mouth while the pore stays open.

In papermaking, wax particles on fibres repel water only once each one spreads a thin, patchy layer outward. The pores stay open, so the barrier comes from how the wax spreads, not from closing the sheet.

Papermakers make a porous cellulose sheet resist water by internal sizing. A water-repelling wax, melted and emulsified, sets into wax particles 1; these are about one micrometre across and are added to the fibre slurry before the sheet forms. Without a retention aid, less than a fifth of these particles stay on the fibres 2. During drying, each melted particle feeds a spreading wax layer: a film one molecule thick that creeps over the cellulose from the particle's foot and does not wet itself, so coverage stays incomplete 34. The covered area grows linearly with time, faster at higher temperature and slower for higher-melting wax 3.

On model cellulose films, water resistance tracked how the wax was distributed, while the orientation of its chains did not 5. The wax lines the pores and leaves them open, so the sheet gains no vapour barrier 6. Fibre bonds form before the wax spreads, which explains why the sheet keeps its strength 7. Sizing grew over days in one study 8, and light with oxygen later degrades it 9.

How does it transfer?

A trace of water-repelling chemistry added to the fibres before a sheet forms can raise the sheet's resistance to liquid while leaving its pores open. Paper sizing shows that this property depends on how the chemistry spreads and distributes over the fibre surfaces after the fibres have bonded, and that this spreading continues for days.

  • Papermaking sizing wax at 1–3 kg per tonne→Fluorine-free water-repelling wax at 0.8 kg per tonne
  • 1 µm wax particles fixed by a retention aid→Wax particles held to the fibres by a two-part retention aid (cationic starch, then colloidal silica)
  • Patchy one-molecule film spreading from each particle→Spreading wax layer whose coverage edges are bet to halt liquid
  • Paper's open, 70–90 % air pore structure→Open pore network of 40–60 µm spaces
  • Sizing that builds up over days of storage→The sheet is accepted by tracking how its liquid hold-out rises over storage time (a ripening curve)
  • Drying-section heat and ambient storage→Drying, a 45 °C tunnel, then days at room temperature
What does not carry over
  • A sized paper sheet gets its strength from fibre bonds formed during pressing and drying; this web is consolidated only by hydroentanglement (fine water jets that tangle the fibres together), with 15 wt % PET fibre added for integrity.
  • Paper sizing is judged by how much water the sheet takes up (its Cobb value); this sheet is instead specified to hold back saline at 90 mbar or more, so that menses fluid, with its lower surface tension of 50 mN/m, still stays above the 62 mbar requirement.
  • The paper literature links sizing to how the wax is distributed across the fibres, but the bet that coverage edges stop liquid in wide pores belongs to this design and is not shown in the paper literature.

How does it work?

The design is a roughly 45 gsm wet-laid cellulose web with no film, coating or adhesive. A trace of water-repelling wax spreads slowly over the fibres after the sheet forms. The design bets that the edges of this incomplete coverage hold liquid back while wide pores stay open for air and vapour.

  1. Add the wax, then bond the sheet

    Wax particles about one micrometre across go into the fibre slurry, and two-step particle anchoring, standard papermaking practice 1011, is targeted to hold at least 85 % of them on the fibres. The wax is a fluorine-free papermaking chemical that makes cellulose resist water once retained 6. Water jets entangle the fibres 1213, and drying adds fibre bonds while the wax stays locked in its particles, because an earlier water-repelling surface would block bonding. The bulk keeps 40–60 µm gaps behind a finer surface layer; breathability of the finished web, which that finer layer may limit, is still unmeasured.

  2. Ripen the wax into partial coverage

    In the dryer and a 45 °C storage tunnel each particle melts at its foot, and a one-molecule-thick wax layer creeps outward across the fibre, still filling in over 3–5 days at room temperature. The layer does not wet itself, so it grows slowly, at a rate set by temperature, and its coverage stays incomplete 3. This slow spreading drives the build-up of water resistance during storage 14, and the sheet's water resistance depends on how the wax is spread over the surface 5. The sheet is therefore qualified on a ripening curve over time.

  3. Hold liquid at the coverage edges (untested)

    Where water-repelling wax gives way to bare fibre the boundary is molecularly sharp, and the advancing liquid front is meant to stick there. The design claims that the length of each wax patch along the flow, not the pore size, sets the pressure the front can take, projected at 62 mbar with wide pores. Documented capillary stops depend instead on the width of the feature the liquid crosses 1516. That caps the pressure the edges can hold near 33–50 mbar, short of the 62 mbar requirement, so the claim is open.

  4. Derate for real fluids; keep a fallback

    The requirement is 62 mbar against real fluids, whose lower surface tension weakens capillary resistance compared with saline 1718. Menses sits near 50 mN/m and faeces at 30–45 mN/m. A saline test must therefore reach at least 90 mbar to cover menses and at least 149 mbar to cover the low end of the faecal range. If the edge claim fails, shrinking the surface layer's largest pores to about 1.5–3 µm restores ordinary pore-size capillary resistance within the same weight and cost.

Fig. 3The proposed outercover in four steps: wax particles anchored in the slurry, the web bonded with pores left open, the wax then ripening into patchy layers, and body fluid held at the patch edges (the design's central bet) while air passes.
Fig. 3

Paper sizing wax that grows a liquid barrier after bonding

Four numbered panels left to right. One: in a fibre slurry, tiny violet wax particles are held to ochre fibres by small green anchoring dots. Two: the dried, entangled web with wide open pores and the particles still as discrete dots. Three: each particle has melted at its foot and spread a thin red-orange patch along the fibre, leaving bare gaps. Four: a section of the outer cover with the core side on top, a thin fine-fibre veil, then the open web; blue fluid from above bulges into a pore and stops at the patch edges, while grey air arrows pass through.

The proposed outercover in four steps: wax particles anchored in the slurry, the web bonded with pores left open, the wax then ripening into patchy layers, and body fluid held at the patch edges (the design's central bet) while air passes.

Why do we think it will work?

The parts of this idea that already work somewhere, and how each carries over here.

Part of the ideaWhere it already worksHere
Papermaking wet-end chemistry · Holding fines and filler on paper machines

Without retention aids, small particles barely stay on fibres because the bond cannot survive shear; adding bentonite while shear was raised to 5000 rpm gave 'a tremendous increase' in deposition of calcium carbonate filler; starch–silica also aids retention. 101119

What is the evidence it will work?

Two-step particle anchoring

Where it works
Papermaking wet-end chemistry · Holding fines and filler on paper machines
What it does there
Without retention aids, small particles barely stay on fibres because the bond cannot survive shear; adding bentonite while shear was raised to 5000 rpm gave 'a tremendous increase' in deposition of calcium carbonate filler; starch–silica also aids retention.
Here
Carries over if: The same two-step anchoring holds wax particles that already carry a positive charge on an unthickened slurry that is 15 % polyester, as well as it holds filler on all-cellulose paper furnish.
The evidence

Carries over ifThe same two-step anchoring holds wax particles that already carry a positive charge on an unthickened slurry that is 15 % polyester, as well as it holds filler on all-cellulose paper furnish.Tested in What we’d test →

Paper sizing physics · Wax-sized cellulose handsheets and model surfaces

The wax only partly wets cellulose and creeps out from each particle's foot as a one-molecule film that does not cover itself; the covered area grows linearly with time, faster at higher temperature. 3

What is the evidence it will work?

Spreading wax layer

Where it works
Paper sizing physics · Wax-sized cellulose handsheets and model surfaces
What it does there
The wax only partly wets cellulose and creeps out from each particle's foot as a one-molecule film that does not cover itself; the covered area grows linearly with time, faster at higher temperature.
Here
Carries over if: At this low dose, on a fibre mix where polyester interrupts the cellulose surface, the film still reaches connected coverage across the pore walls.
The evidence

Carries over ifAt this low dose, on a fibre mix where polyester interrupts the cellulose surface, the film still reaches connected coverage across the pore walls.

Surface spectroscopy of paper sizing · Thin wax layers on cellulose films

On wax layers about 2.6 nm thick on cellulose films, chain orientation and conformation did not track sizing, and the authors concluded that the wax's distribution plays a major role. 5

What is the evidence it will work?

Coverage pattern governs wax water resistance

Where it works
Surface spectroscopy of paper sizing · Thin wax layers on cellulose films
What it does there
On wax layers about 2.6 nm thick on cellulose films, chain orientation and conformation did not track sizing, and the authors concluded that the wax's distribution plays a major role.
Here
Carries over if: A deliberately incomplete coverage pattern gives a true liquid barrier in a fibre web, not only a lower average wettability.
The evidence

Carries over ifA deliberately incomplete coverage pattern gives a true liquid barrier in a fibre web, not only a lower average wettability.Tested in What we’d test →

Absorbent hygiene products · Film-free cellulosic backsheet barrier layer

A cellulosic fibre layer sized with the same wax holds more than 200 mm of water head (about 20 mbar), the pressure held back before leaking, while staying air-permeable; a bonded laminate exceeded 500 mm (about 49 mbar). 20

What is the evidence it will work?

Wax-sized cellulose layer as backsheet barrier

Where it works
Absorbent hygiene products · Film-free cellulosic backsheet barrier layer
What it does there
A cellulosic fibre layer sized with the same wax holds more than 200 mm of water head (about 20 mbar), the pressure held back before leaking, while staying air-permeable; a bonded laminate exceeded 500 mm (about 49 mbar).
Here
Carries over if: The same wax, at a much lower dose in one unlaminated ply, reaches the 62 mbar requirement, roughly three times the precedent's lower bound.
The evidence
  • Breathable backsheet, absorbent articles, and methods ↗Patent · US 10,774,475 B2 · 2016 · Google Patents
    “A cellulosic fiber barrier layer having a hydrophobic sizing, the barrier layer having an air permeability of more than 0.5 ft3/min-ft2 and configured to hold a hydrostatic head of more than 200 mm H2O … pinhole-free performance at 400 mm H2O for 10 minutes.”

Carries over ifThe same wax, at a much lower dose in one unlaminated ply, reaches the 62 mbar requirement, roughly three times the precedent's lower bound.Tested in What we’d test →

Wet-laid nonwovens · Pulp-based disposable hygiene wipes and fabrics

Hydroentangling a wet-laid pulp web significantly improved its wet tensile strength, stretch, softness and air permeability and reduced dusting, and wood-pulp wetlace is established in disposable hygiene wipes. 1213

What is the evidence it will work?

Hydroentangled wet-laid pulp consolidation (wet-lace)

Where it works
Wet-laid nonwovens · Pulp-based disposable hygiene wipes and fabrics
What it does there
Hydroentangling a wet-laid pulp web significantly improved its wet tensile strength, stretch, softness and air permeability and reduced dusting, and wood-pulp wetlace is established in disposable hygiene wipes.
Here
Carries over if: The web reaches its required strength without the usual wet-strength resin, keeps the open pore network, and keeps its wax particles through the 60–150 bar jets.
The evidence

Carries over ifThe web reaches its required strength without the usual wet-strength resin, keeps the open pore network, and keeps its wax particles through the 60–150 bar jets.

Spunmelt nonwoven fabrics · Commodity multilayer barrier fabrics

An untreated commodity spunmelt fabric (melt-spun polypropylene layers) passed 46.33 cfm, cubic feet of air per minute per square foot, while holding little water head, so that fabric clears the 5 cfm airflow requirement about ninefold. 21

What is the evidence it will work?

Open pore network for breathability

Where it works
Spunmelt nonwoven fabrics · Commodity multilayer barrier fabrics
What it does there
An untreated commodity spunmelt fabric (melt-spun polypropylene layers) passed 46.33 cfm, cubic feet of air per minute per square foot, while holding little water head, so that fabric clears the 5 cfm airflow requirement about ninefold.
Here
Carries over if: The fine-fibre veil on the soil-facing side does not throttle air and vapour flow through the coarse web behind it.
The evidence
  • Barrier Fabrics with Desirable Air Permeability ↗Patent application · US 2024/0316898 A1 · 2024 · Google Patents
    “Each of the nonwoven layers being treated with a non-fluorinated barrier coating (NFBC) ... 45 gsm SMMMMS + NFBC at 81.2 mbar average hydrohead and 20.99 cfm, pore size 6–8 µm; outermost spunbond fibres with an average diameter from about 10 to about 25 microns, 18–22.”

Carries over ifThe fine-fibre veil on the soil-facing side does not throttle air and vapour flow through the coarse web behind it.

Paper optics · Mechanical and chemimechanical pulp sheets

Compared with chemical pulps, mechanical and chemimechanical pulps offer high light scattering, giving high opacity at a low basis weight. 22

What is the evidence it will work?

Light scattering from pulp structure, without pigment

Where it works
Paper optics · Mechanical and chemimechanical pulp sheets
What it does there
Compared with chemical pulps, mechanical and chemimechanical pulps offer high light scattering, giving high opacity at a low basis weight.
Here
Carries over if: A thin veil of fibre fragments and fine fibrils, plus mechanical pulp, raises dry-sheet opacity to the 85 % target at 45 gsm with no pigment.
The evidence

Carries over ifA thin veil of fibre fragments and fine fibrils, plus mechanical pulp, raises dry-sheet opacity to the 85 % target at 45 gsm with no pigment.

What's different?

The design asks the wax sizing already used in film-free cellulose barriers to work on open pores, crediting the liquid barrier to sharp edges of wax patches that spread over days but never join up.

How it’s done todayThis idea
Barrier mechanismSmall largest pore plus low-energy finish sets entry pressureSharp edges of incomplete, spreading wax patches halt advancing liquid
Pore sizeMeltblown plies or dense tissue shrink the openingsOpen pore network, 40–60 µm gaps, never closed
ConstructionMulti-ply spunmelt, or sized tissue laminated to support nonwovenOne 45 gsm hydroentangled pulp web, no lamination or coating
Stain maskingPigment, dark tint, or separate 25–100 gsm masking layerFines-rich surface layer and pulp fibre voids scatter light, no pigment
Cost driverFine-fibre ply priced 2–3× spunbond per kilogramCheapest structural pulp plus 0.8 kg wax per tonne
QualificationBarrier fixed at forming, tested as one hydrostatic headBarrier grows by ripening; sheet qualified on a time curve
Closest existing work · 4
  • Attends: sized cellulosic barrier backsheet patent20Leaves pores open instead of relying on dense tissue, needs no support-nonwoven lamination, and specifies ≥90 mbar saline against its ~20 and ~59 mbar.Google Patents ↗
  • US20150315749A1, hydrophobic treatment on cellulose web23Wax coverage stays incomplete and never spans the pores; that application forms a film-like structure between fibres using fluorinated chemistry.Google Patents ↗
  • AVINTIV/Berry film-free coated fine-fibre backsheet21Uses unbeaten pulp and trace wax in one hydroentangled web instead of fine-fibre plies with a barrier coating on every layer.Google Patents ↗
  • Procter & Gamble film-free pigmented nonwoven24Masks stains by structural light scattering at zero pigment and targets ≥90 mbar; that web is dark-tinted and claims 15–50 mbar.Google Patents ↗

What would we test?

The riskiest open question

The sharp coverage edges of the spreading wax layer, and not pore width, set the pressure at which liquid enters the open pore network.

Why it matters
If pore width governs instead, the coarse pores cap far below the 62 mbar requirement, and the reason the web can stay coarse and cheap disappears.
First test
Model beds of the real pulp fibres with the wax film grown in place; vary film length and pore width separately; read saline and menses-simulant entry pressure. 3435
Go if
Entry pressure rises at least threefold as film length shrinks, and stays within 15 % when pore width halves.
No-go if
Pressure tracks pore width and ignores film length, or grown-film and uniform-finish beds read the same.
Effort
$21KUSD$21Kas statedEUR€18.8KJPY¥3.33MECB reference rates, 2026-10-12 · 6 weeks
The other open questions · riskiest first

  1. In the real 45 gsm web, ripened wax coverage beats a uniform wax finish of equal mass at matched wettability and pore size.

    Why it matters
    Without that gain the barrier is ordinary sizing, capped by pore width, and the reason the web can stay coarse disappears.
    First test
    Handsheets of the real fibre mix in six states, from cold-dried to fully ripened plus uniform-finish and no-wax controls, read on menses simulant with wettability and pores matched. 3438
    Go if
    Ripened states reach at least 62 mbar while the uniform control stays at or below 15 mbar.
    No-go if
    Ripened and uniform states read the same, or the ripened curve levels off below 62 mbar.
    Effort
    $24KUSD$24Kas statedEUR€21.5KJPY¥3.81MECB reference rates, 2026-10-12 · 6 weeks

  2. Two-step particle anchoring keeps at least 85 % of the wax particles in the forming web and through the 60–150 bar water jets.

    Why it matters
    The wax gives no barrier unless it sits in the web at the pore mouths; otherwise it washes into the jet-water loop.
    First test
    Drainage-jar retention on the real fibre mix with a wax-specific assay, against no-aid and single-polymer controls, then jet exposure and a dose-ramp stability screen. 4243
    Go if
    At least 85 % retained, sheet uniformity (formation) within 10 % of untreated control, jets remove under 10 % wax.
    No-go if
    Retention below 60 % on every program, dispersion collapses, or jets strip more than 20 % of particles.
    Effort
    $9,000USD$9,000as statedEUR€8,050JPY¥1.43MECB reference rates, 2026-10-12 · 4 weeks

  3. A web that holds 90 mbar of saline also holds 62 mbar against defined urine, menses and stool simulants.

    Why it matters
    The requirement names all three fluids, and at stool's low surface tension the 90 mbar saline figure derates to only about 37–56 mbar.
    First test
    Fix simulant recipes and protocol, confirm each simulant wets the sized web like its real fluid, then read saline, menses and stool simulants on one ripened specimen. 3444
    Go if
    Every fluid holds at least 62 mbar, and derating stays within 15 % of the surface-tension ratio.
    No-go if
    Any fluid breaks through below 62 mbar on a specimen that clears 90 mbar on saline.
    Effort
    $26KUSD$26Kas statedEUR€23.3KJPY¥4.12MECB reference rates, 2026-10-12 · 8 weeks

  4. No single bare passage lets liquid through the web, so every replicate specimen clears the pressure target.

    Why it matters
    Liquid pressure resistance is set by the weakest passage, so one unspanned pore fails a specimen whatever the average coverage.
    First test
    Pressure test on at least ten ripened replicates, with surface chemical imaging and cryo-electron microscopy of coverage at the largest pores.
    Go if
    The median clears the target, no replicate falls below it, and the fraction of pores spanned is stated.
    No-go if
    Single replicates fail while the median passes.
    Effort
    $14KUSD$14Kas statedEUR€12.5KJPY¥2.22MECB reference rates, 2026-10-12 · 3 weeks
Also to check before scale-up
  • Unpressed, resin-free web: tensile over 2000 gram-force per 3-inch strip, over 5 % stretch, softness (cup-crush) reading under 50 g.
  • Fine-fibre veil and mechanical pulp reach 85 % dry opacity without raising density; a soiled see-through test is agreed.
  • The complete web with its veil clears both the air-permeability and water-vapour floors.
  • Ripened coverage survives the conditioning schedule and shelf window without reverting through hydrolysis, light or oxygen.
  • Delivered cost lands under the pinned ceiling once conversion is included, with raw-material or converted basis fixed.
  • Internal wax sizing is classed as not a continuous film, with no added fluorochemical and extractables limits met.
  • Mechanical pulp share raises opacity without consuming enough wax to drop the barrier below target.
  • A noise method and limit for quietness is agreed before the web is scored.
  • Tighter-veil fallback is judged as a separate small-pore design if uniform sizing explains its result.

Who could help make this happen?

First contacts

3

References

100 sources48 cited in this idea, 52 background reading

Where it comes from9

Where it comes from

9

The work in the source field that the idea borrows its principle from.

  1. 1Web page: Application Note & Protocol: Preparation of Stable Alkyl Ketene Dimer (AKD) Emulsions for Laboratory Use, pdf.benchchem.com
    AKD has a melting point between 40 and 60°C... Emulsification is therefore carried out at elevated temperatures where the AKD is in a liquid state. Upon cooling, the liquid AKD droplets solidify into a stable dispersion of solid particles.
    Why it’s hereThe wax melts at 40 to 60 °C and is emulsified hot, then solidifies into particles.
    Cited in
    Where it comes from
    Open source (opens in a new tab)
  2. 2Web page: Modern Papermaking, rexresearch1.com
    The retention of AKD is lower than 100%. In the absence of any retention aid, the cationic AKD particles are retained in an amount of less than 20%.
    Why it’s hereWithout retention aids, under 20% of charged wax particles are retained in the sheet.
    Cited in
    Where it comes from
    Open source (opens in a new tab)
  3. 3Paper: Mechanism of internal sizing by alkyl ketene dimers (AKD): The role of the spreading monolayer precursor and autophobicity, Seppänen et al.2000
    R. Seppänen, F. Tiberg and M. Valignat
    Alkyl ketene dimers (AKD) only partially wet cellulose and silica surfaces. Further spreading of AKD molecules is shown to occur by surface diffusion in the form of an autophobic monolayer precursor, which grows from the foot of the AKD drop/particle. The surface area covered by the monolayer grows linearly with time. The rate of the precursor growth is proportional to the ambient temperature and decreases with increasing AKD melting point.
    Why it’s hereMeasures the spreading wax layer: grows from each particle's foot, linear in time, faster when warmer, incomplete.
    Cited in
    Where it comes fromHow it worksWhy we believe it
    Open source (opens in a new tab)
  4. 4Paper: On the Internal Sizing Mechanisms of Paper with AKD and ASA Related to Surface Chemistry, Wettability and Friction, Seppänen2007
    R. Seppänen
    By combination with time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) we have been able to determine the lateral distribution and the chemical state of the sizing agent at the paper surface... the spreading was not complete, as also seen on a model surface.
    Why it’s hereMaps the wax's lateral distribution on paper surfaces and finds spreading incomplete, as on model surfaces.
    Cited in
    Where it comes from
    Open source (opens in a new tab)
  5. 5Paper: The mechanism of alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) sizing on cellulose model films studied by sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy, Li & Neivandt2019
    L. Li and D. Neivandt
    It was demonstrated that the chain orientation and conformation of AKD do not correlate with observed changes in sizing. … It was concluded that the distribution of AKD plays a major role in the sizing effect.
    Why it’s hereShows sizing tracks how the wax is distributed, not its molecular orientation, on cellulose films.
    Cited in
    Where it comes fromHow it worksWhy we believe itWho could help
    Open source (opens in a new tab)
  6. 6Web page: Hubbe — Paper's resistance to wetting: a review of internal sizing chemicals and their effects (BioResources 2(1):106-145), bioresources.cnr.ncsu.edu
    Chemicals added as emulsions or in micellar form to slurries of cellulosic fibers before paper is made can make the product resist water and other fluids … efficient hydrophobation requires that the sizing chemicals contain hydrophobic groups, that they are efficiently retained on fiber surfaces, that they become well distributed on a molecular scale, and that they need to be chemically anchored.
    Why it’s hereReview of sizing chemicals: retention, molecular-scale distribution and anchoring are needed for water resistance.
    Cited in
    Where it comes fromHow it works
    Open source (opens in a new tab)
  7. 7Web page: Puzzling aspects of the hydrophobic sizing of paper and its inter-fiber bonding ability, bioresources.cnr.ncsu.edu
    It appears that the inter-fiber bonded areas develop first. Molecular distribution of the hydrophobic agents appears to happen later, especially during the later stages of evaporative drying.
    Why it’s hereFibre-to-fibre bonds form first; the water-repelling chemistry distributes later, during late drying.
    Cited in
    Where it comes from
    Open source (opens in a new tab)
  8. 8Paper: Sticky hydrophobic behavior of cellulose substrates impregnated with alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) via sub- and supercritical carbon dioxide, Adenekan & Hutton-Prager2019
    K. Adenekan and B. Hutton-PragerColloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects
    Spreading of AKD across the fiber surfaces appeared to be the main sizing pathway, and identification of hydrogen bonding between AKD and cellulose fibers suggested a possible attachment method... The sizing development was significant after two days of treatment
    Why it’s hereSpreading across fibre surfaces was the main sizing pathway; sizing developed significantly after two days.
    Cited in
    Where it comes from
    Open source (opens in a new tab)
  9. 9Paper: Alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) sized paper reversion due to oxidative photodegradation, Ntifafa et al.2024
    Y. Ntifafa, Y. Ji and P. W. HartJanuary 2024
    It is broadly known that AKD size reversion is due to migration, poor orientation, masking, or hydrolysis of the sizing agent... AKD size reversion is due to the degradation of the chemical in the presence of light and oxygen; temperature variations were found to accelerate reversion in the presence of light and oxygen.
    Why it’s hereSizing loss in wax-sized paper comes from degradation by light and oxygen, accelerated by temperature changes.
    Cited in
    Where it comes fromWho could help
    Open source (opens in a new tab)
Evidence it works11

Evidence it works

11

Each shows a part of the idea already working somewhere.

  1. 10Web page: Filler and fines retention in papermaking (13th Fundamental Research Symposium, Cambridge 2005), bioresources.cnr.ncsu.edu
    Even when the deposition rates are high (αd ≈ 1), no appreciable filler retention occurs in papermaking in the absence of retention aids, since the bond strength E is too weak to withstand the shear forces … the shear is increased to 5000 rpm and at the same time bentonite is added. This results in a tremendous increase in PCC deposition.
    Why it’s hereShows charged fine particles stay on fibres only with retention aids; colloid plus shear sharply raises deposition.
    Cited in
    How it worksWhy we believe it
    Open source (opens in a new tab)
  2. 11Web page: Khosravani et al. — Studying the effect of cationic starch–anionic nanosilica system on retention and drainage (BioResources 5(2):939-950), bioresources.cnr.ncsu.edu
    The interaction mechanism seems to rely on introduction of nanoparticles into a cationic starch-fines-fibers network, converting the fiber mat on the forming wire into a porous structure that is responsive to retention and drainage.
    Why it’s hereCationic starch with anionic nanosilica improves retention in forming webs, the basis of two-step particle anchoring.
    Cited in
    How it worksWhy we believe it
    Open source (opens in a new tab)
  3. 12Paper: Environmentally friendly and breathable wet-laid hydroentangled nonwovens for personal hygiene care with excellent water absorbency and flushability, Deng et al.2018
    C. Deng, W. Liu, Y. Zhang and 3 moreRoyal Society Open Science
    Wet tensile strength, ductile stretching property, softness, air permeability and water absorbency of the wet-laid fibre web are significantly improved by hydroentanglement … the dusting off rate of wet-laid fibre web can be effectively reduced.
    Why it’s hereHydroentangled wet-laid hygiene webs gain wet strength, softness and air permeability over unentangled webs.
    Cited in
    How it worksWhy we believe it
    Open source (opens in a new tab)PDF
  4. 13Paper: Investigation of the wet strength and handle properties of wood pulp-based wetlaid/spunlace materials with different moisture contents, Zhang et al.2021
    Y. Zhang, K. Guo, H. Zhan and 3 moreEuropean Journal of Wood and Wood Products
    Wood pulp-based wetlaid/spunlace (wetlace) materials have become increasingly popular in the field of disposable personal hygiene moist wipes.
    Why it’s hereWood-pulp wet-laid, hydroentangled materials are established in disposable hygiene wipes.
    Cited in
    How it worksWhy we believe it
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  5. 14Web page: Making sure you're not a bot!, kth.diva-portal.org
    The effect of the monolayer spreading can be seen in the time evolution of the hydrophobicity during storage of AKD sized hand-sheets. There are clear indications that the relatively slow monolayer spreading process plays a key role for the build-up of paper hydrophobicity.
    Why it’s hereHydrophobicity of wax-sized handsheets builds slowly in storage, tied to the slow spreading layer.
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  6. 15Paper: How the capillary burst microvalve works., Cho et al.2007
    H. Cho, H. Kim, J. Kang and 1 moreJournal of Colloid and Interface Science
    here we report the theoretical investigation of how the capillary burst valve can stop the advancing liquid meniscus and when it bursts
    Why it’s hereTheory of how a capillary burst valve stops an advancing meniscus and when it bursts.
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  7. 16Paper: A Review of Capillary Pressure Control Valves in Microfluidics, Wang et al.2021
    S. Wang, X. Zhang, C. Ma and 3 moreBiosensors
    CPCVs do not require external equipment and rely solely on Laplace pressure at the liquid interfaces, which depends on the surface tension, contact angle and channel shape.
    Why it’s hereCapillary valves rely on Laplace pressure set by surface tension, contact angle and channel shape.
    Cited in
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  8. 17Paper: Rheological and interfacial characterization of menstrual fluid, Pero et al.2026
    E. Pero, C. Neu, A. Wolf and 3 moreThe Physics of Fluids
    Menstrual fluid viscosity is approximately fourfold higher than blood and forty-fold higher than water … Surface tension is significantly lower than that of water and comparable to that of venous blood … Current industrial simulants are typically simplified water- or blood-like fluids that may not adequately reproduce the complex behavior of real menses.
    Why it’s hereMenstrual fluid is about forty-fold more viscous than water, lower in surface tension; common simulants may not reproduce it.
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  9. 18Paper: Tetrapodal textured Janus textiles for accessible menstrual health, Sanders et al.2023
    S. L. Sanders, L. D. Douglas, T. E. Sill and 5 moreiScience
    Wetback was ~8× higher with menses simulant (217 ± 87 mg) than saline (27 ± 7 mg), attributed to the lower surface tension 'decreas[ing] the capillary resistance'.
    Why it’s hereWetback (fluid squeezed back out under pressure) was about eightfold higher with menses simulant than saline.
    Cited in
    How it worksWhat we'd test
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  10. 19Paper: Colloidal silica and its effects during formation of paper sheets in the presence of nanofibrillated cellulose, cationic starch, and cationic acrylamide copolymer, Atree et al.2025
    V. S. Atree, K. V. Hamm, D. J. Kozel and 3 moreTAPPI Journal
    Pretreatment of the NFC with a high charge density cationic starch (DS 0.2) resulted in strong interactions with the colloidal silica... the final colloidal silica treatments tended to decrease the level of flocculation in the suspensions, giving more uniform handsheets.
    Why it’s hereCationic starch with colloidal silica interacts strongly in fibre suspensions and gives more uniform handsheets.
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  11. 22Paper: Determining optical properties of mechanical pulps, Karlsson et al.2012
    A. Karlsson, S. Enberg, M. Rundlöf and 2 more
    Compared to chemical pulps ... mechanical and chemimechanical pulps ... [offer] high light scattering, giving high opacity at a low basis weight.
    Why it’s hereMechanical pulps scatter light strongly, giving high opacity at low basis weight.
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Today's approaches and closest prior art4

Today's approaches and closest prior art

4

How the field handles the problem now, and the nearest existing work.

  1. 20Patent: Breathable backsheet, absorbent articles, and methods, US 10,774,475 B22016
    Attends Healthcare Products IncInventors: H. Chmielewski, E. Seames and B. M. Spain
    A cellulosic fiber barrier layer having a hydrophobic sizing, the barrier layer having an air permeability of more than 0.5 ft3/min-ft2 and configured to hold a hydrostatic head of more than 200 mm H2O … pinhole-free performance at 400 mm H2O for 10 minutes.
    Why it’s hereClosest existing work: breathable sized cellulose barrier holding over 200 mm water, far short of the target.
    Cited in
    Why we believe itNew to your fieldWho could help
    Google Patents (opens in a new tab)PDFEspacenet
  2. 21Patent application: Barrier Fabrics with Desirable Air Permeability, US 2024/0316898 A12024
    Berry Global IncInventors: L. Wang, N. Bishop, T. ZHANG and 2 more
    Each of the nonwoven layers being treated with a non-fluorinated barrier coating (NFBC) ... 45 gsm SMMMMS + NFBC at 81.2 mbar average hydrohead and 20.99 cfm, pore size 6–8 µm; outermost spunbond fibres with an average diameter from about 10 to about 25 microns, 18–22.
    Why it’s hereFluorine-free coated spunmelt fabric at about 81 mbar hydrohead (water column held before leaking).
    Cited in
    Why we believe itNew to your fieldWho could help
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  3. 23Patent application: Hydrophobic treatment on hydrophilic nonwoven, US 2015/0315749 A12014
    Kimberly Clark Worldwide IncInventors: K. M. Goeders and M. R. Forthofer
    the present disclosure relates to the use of a hydrophobic chemistry applied to a hydrophilic fibrous material to create liquid barrier properties in an otherwise wettable nonwoven by creating a film-like structure between the fibers... The hydrophobic composition can include a hydrophobic component selected from the group consisting of fluorinated polymers, perfluorinated polymers... The nonwoven web can include tissue, cellulose, or other suitable material.
    Why it’s hereHydrophobic chemistry, including fluorinated polymers, forms film-like barriers between fibres of wettable nonwovens.
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  4. 24Patent: Dark-tinted nonwoven webs, US 12,042,3642020
    Procter and Gamble CoInventors: N. S. Wimalasena
    Dark-tinted nonwoven webs of the present disclosure may have a Hydrohead Value of between about 15 mbar and about 50 mbar.
    Why it’s hereFilm-free dark-tinted nonwoven webs holding roughly 15 to 50 mbar of water column before leaking.
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Methods for the tests12

Methods for the tests

12

The rigs, protocols and measures the first tests borrow.

  1. 34Paper: Advances in water breakthrough measurement at high temperature in macroporous hydrophobic ceramic/polymeric membranes, Varela-Corredor & Bandini2018
    F. Varela-Corredor and S. BandiniJournal of Membrane Science
    The method is based on the construction of the initial part of the 'flooding curve'... Protocols have been defined in order to get a measure of the volume flux across the flooded pores.
    Why it’s hereFlooding-curve protocol for measuring water breakthrough in porous hydrophobic membranes, borrowed for entry-pressure tests.
    Cited in
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  2. 35Paper: Advanced water management in PEFCs: diffusion layers with patterned wettability. II. measurement of capillary pressure characteristic with neutron and synchrotron imaging, Forner-Cuenca et al.2016
    A. Forner-Cuenca, J. Biesdorf, A. Lamibrac and 5 more
    The location of the pores filled first does not necessarily coincide with the existing hydrophilic pattern. This observation points to the fact that large pores - even if hydrophobic - are filled at lower (or similar) pressures than small hydrophilic pores. This is contradictory to the expectations if considering the Washburn equation... In this paper the Young-Laplace equation is derived for a cylindrical pore with a variable constriction diameter.
    Why it’s hereImaging of patterned-wettability layers shows large pores fill first even when water-repelling; a check on coverage-edge control.
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    What we'd test
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  3. 36Paper: Improving Liquid Entry Pressure of Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) Membranes by Exploiting the Role of Fabrication Parameters in Vapor-Induced Phase Separation VIPS and Non-Solvent-Induced Phase Separation (NIPS) Processes, AlMarzooqi et al.2017
    F. AlMarzooqi, M. R. Bilad and H. Arafat
    all the LEP values in this table and throughout this manuscript were calculated using the Cantor-Laplace equation... where γ is the surface tension of the wetting liquid... θ is the contact angle... and r max is the maximum pore radius of the membrane (i.e., bubble-point pore size).
    Why it’s hereStates the standard rule: entry pressure is set by the largest pore radius, the view the test pits against.
    Cited in
    What we'd test
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  4. 37Paper: A New Phase Diagram for Fluid Invasion Patterns as a Function of Pore‐Scale Heterogeneity, Surface Roughness, and Wettability, Geistlinger et al.2024
    H. Geistlinger, S. Golmohammadi, B. Zulfiqar and 5 moreWater Resources Research
    in a more heterogeneous porous medium such as sand with irregularly shaped grains and a wide range of pore sizes, the advance becomes invasion percolation regardless of the contact angle, as the invasion is solely controlled by the pore size and not by the cooperative filling.
    Why it’s hereIn heterogeneous media, invasion is set by pore size regardless of contact angle; the opposing expectation under test.
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    What we'd test
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  5. 38Paper: The Studies on the Distribution of Rosin Sizing Agent in the Paper Sheet (Part 1):Changes in Some Surface Parameters from SEM, TOF-SIMS and ESCA by Addition of Alum, Ozaki & Sawatari2001
    Y. Ozaki and A. Sawatari
    surface parameters of the paper sheet and the distribution of the sizing agent were investigated by SEM, TOF-SIMS and ESCA.
    Why it’s hereSurface-imaging methods for mapping where a sizing chemical sits on a paper sheet.
    Cited in
    What we'd test
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  6. 39Paper: Standardization of the bubble point method for the pore-size characterization of woven and nonwoven geotextiles
    standardization of the bubble point method for the pore-size characterization of woven and nonwoven geotextiles.
    Why it’s hereStandardized bubble-point method for pore-size measurement of nonwovens, used to match pore geometry.
    Cited in
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  7. 40Paper: Determination of the Pore Size Distribution of Nonwoven Geotextiles by a Modified Capillary Flow Porometry Technique, Vermeersch & Młynarek1996
    O. Vermeersch and J. Młynarek
    determination of the pore size distribution of nonwoven geotextiles by a modified capillary flow porometry technique.
    Why it’s hereCapillary flow porometry for pore-size distribution of nonwovens, used to hold pore geometry equal.
    Cited in
    What we'd test
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  8. 41Paper: Surface chemistry of deinked pulps as analysed by XPS and ToF‐SIMS, Orblin & Fardim2010
    E. Orblin and P. Fardim
    surface chemistry of deinked pulps as analysed by XPS and ToF-SIMS.
    Why it’s hereSurface-chemistry analysis of pulp fibres, used to map wax coverage on fibres.
    Cited in
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  9. 42Web page: Lab Procedures, hubbepaperchem.cnr.ncsu.edu
    The Dynamic Drainage/Retention Jar, developed by Ken Britt and John Unbehend... is especially well suited for evaluation of retention aid treatments.
    Why it’s hereDynamic drainage jar, a standard rig for testing how well particles are held in a fibre slurry.
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  10. 43Web page: Preparation and Retention of a Hydrophobically Associating Cationic Polyacrylamide (BioResources 7(4):4926), bioresources.cnr.ncsu.edu
    The first pass retention rate (FPR) and first pass retention rate of fines (FPRf) were detected according to the standard procedure from DDJ-DFR05 dynamic drainage jar. The filtrate was divided into two parts, and their concentrations were measured.
    Why it’s hereStandard procedure for measuring first-pass retention of fines with a dynamic drainage jar.
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  11. 44Web page: ISO 9073-16:2007 - Textiles — Test methods for nonwovens — Part 16: Determination of resistance to penetration by water (hydrostatic pressure), iso.org
    ISO 9073-16:2007 describes the hydrostatic pressure test that measures the resistance of nonwoven fabrics to the penetration of water under varied hydrostatic head pressures.
    Why it’s hereHydrostatic pressure test for nonwovens; its scope covers water only, not other fluids.
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  12. 45Paper: Critical entry pressure for liquids in hydrophobic membranes, Kim & Harriott1987
    B. Kim and P. Harriott
    a square-array-of-intersecting-cylinders model matched air–liquid PTFE data, but 'some liquid–liquid systems gave anomalously low entry pressures'.
    Why it’s hereEntry-pressure model fits air–liquid data, but some liquid–liquid systems gave anomalously low entry pressures.
    Cited in
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People and organizations12

People and organizations

12

The researchers, labs, companies and suppliers who could help make the idea happen.

  1. 46Web page: hubbepaperchem.cnr.ncsu.edu
    REVIEW ARTICLE ## **_ncsu.edu/bioresources_** Hubbe (2006). “Paper’s Resistance to Wetting,” **_BioResources_** 2(1), 106-145. 106 ### **PAPER’S RESISTANCE TO WETTING – A REVIEW OF INTERNAL SIZING CHEMICALS AND THEIR EFFECTS** Martin A. Hubbe This review considers research related to internal sizing agents. Such chemicals, when added as emulsions or in micellar form to slurries of cellulosic fibers before paper is made, can make the product resist water and other fluids. Significant progress has been achieved to elucidate the modes of action of alkylketene dimer (AKD), alkenylsuccinic anhydride (ASA), rosin products, and other sizing chemicals. Recent findings generally support a traditional view that efficient hydrophobation requires that the sizing chemicals contain hydrophobic groups, that they are efficiently retained on fiber surfaces during the papermaking process, that they become well distributed on a molecular scale, and that they need to be chemically anchored. A variety of studies have quantified ways in which internal sizing treatments tend to be inefficient, compared to what is theoretically possible. The inefficient nature of chemical and physical processes associated with internal sizing, as well as competing reactions and some interfering or contributing factors, help to explain apparent inconsistencies between the results of some recent studies. _Keywords: Internal sizing, Hydrophobicity, Cellulosic fibers, Paper, Mechanisms, Curing, Liquid penetration, Rosin, ASA, AKD_ _Contact information: Department of Forest Biomaterials Science and Engineering, North Carolina State University, Campus Box 8005, Raleigh, NC 27695-8005 USA, ... 1995; Esser and Ettl 1997). Material that is not retained during the first pass through the forming section will tend to break down, to some degree, as it remains an unnecessarily long time in contact with the alkaline process water. Electrostatic factors appear to play important roles in AKD retention (Lindström and Söderberg 1986b, Isogai 1997; 2004a; Ravnjak 2006). Thus, negatively charged colloidal materials in the paper machine process water are expected to neutralize the cationically stabilized AKD particles, interfering with their adsorption onto cellulosic solids. The importance of negatively charged groups on fiber surfaces in retention of AKD particles stabilized by cationic polyelectrolytes was demonstrated by selectively blocking carboxylate groups (Isogai et al. 1997); less of …
    Why it’s hereReviewed how papermakers make sheets water-repellent from the inside: the wax particles have to be held on the fibres, spread over them and anchored there, and how well the wax stays depends on electrical charge; his lab also publishes the drainage-jar method for measuring how much additive stays in a sheet.
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  2. 47Web page: (PDF) Mechanism of internal sizing by alkyl ketene dimers ..., academia.edu
    (PDF) Mechanism of internal sizing by alkyl ketene dimers ... Mechanism of internal sizing by alkyl ketene dimers (AKD): The role of the spreading monolayer precursor and autophobicity Rauni Seppänen, Fredrik Tiberg, Institute for Surface Chemistry, Stockholm, Sweden and Marie-Pierre Valignat, Physique de la Matière Condensée, Collège de France, Paris, France Keywords: Paper, Sizing, Alkyl ketene dimer, AKD, Spreading, • Anchoring (possibly
    Why it’s hereShowed that the water-repelling wax spreads out from the foot of each particle as a film one molecule thick; the film's area grows steadily with time and faster when warmer, and handsheets keep gaining water repellency while stored.
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  3. 48Patent: Breathable absorbent article, US 12,558,273 B22020
    Allegiance CorpInventors: W. H. Isaac
    hydrostatic pressure of the backsheet may be greater than or equal to 60 centimeters based on AATCC Test Method 127-2008 ... the air permeability of the underpad may range from 5 to 35 cubic feet per minute.
    Why it’s hereFilm-free breathable absorbent-article backsheet with stated hydrostatic and air-permeability ranges.
    Cited in
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  4. 49Web page: DuPont Tyvek Technical User Guide, dupont.com
    Untreated Tyvek B styles exceed 50 in H2O = 127 cm H2O ≈ 125 mbar average hydrostatic head; WVTR 250–350 g/m²/24 h; air-leakage rate 0.004 cfm/ft² @ 1.57 psf; Gurley >300 s/100 cc.
    Why it’s hereFlashspun polyethylene sheet holds about 125 mbar but with very low air leakage.
    Cited in
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  5. 50Web page: ANDRITZ Nonwoven and Textile, andritz.com
    the installation of complete nonwovens ... forming to finishing ... for Airlaid, Air Through-Bonding, Needlepunch, Hygiene Converting, Wetlaid, Spunlace, Airlaid, Airlay ... Textile Recycling and Nonwoven & Textile Calenders. ... With state-of-the-art installations in our technical centers in Germany and France, ANDRITZ experts serve as your partners in product development. Technical centers are available for each production technology: Wetlaid, Needlepunch, Spunlace and Nonwoven & Textile Calenders and also pilot lines for Converting. ... air-through-bonding, airlay, calendering, converting, diatec, ecological engineering, engineering intelligence, hydroentanglement, hygiene converting, hygiene products, needle punch, nonwoven & textile calenders, nonwoven calenders, nonwoven technology, nonwovens, nonwovens production, opening/blending, recycling, spunjet, spunlace, spunlaid, technology, textile engineering, textile technology, weltlaid, wetlace ... > > ANDRITZ Nonwoven & Textile offers advanced technologies for producing high-performance, bio-based and plastic-free wipes ... > > 🌿 Spunlace for bio-wipes > 🌿 Airlace™ and Airlace™ hybrid > 🌿 Wetlace™ and Wetlace™ hybrid solutions > 🌿 Flexible combinations of drylaid, airlaid and wetlaid technologies > > Our production platforms help manufacturers process natural and renewable fibers while responding to growing demand for sustainable wipes, including bio-wipes and flushable products. > > ... better. Technologically advanced. > > 👉 ... ANDRITZ ... Nonwovens ... #Spunlace #Airlace #Wetlace ... -nonwoven ... renewable fibers to sustainable wipes > ... ANDRITZ Nonwoven ... Textile offers advanced technologies for producing high-performance, bio ... free wipes. ... > 🌿 Spunlace for bio-wipes > 🌿 Airlace™ and Airlace™ hybrid > 🌿 Wetlace™ and Wetlace™ hybrid solutions > 🌿 Flexible combinations of drylaid, airlaid and wetlaid technologies > > Our production platforms help manufacturers process natural and renewable fibers while responding to growing demand for sustainable wipes, including bio-wipes and flushable products. > > ... better. Technologically advanced ... > > 👉 ... our sustainable wipes solutions: ... dqxM2Ees ... ANDRITZ ... #Nonwovens #PlasticFree #RenewableFibers #Spunlace #Airlace #Wetlace ... > ... > ... > > ... hygiene converting, needlepunch, spunbond, spunlace, Wetlace™, air-through bonding, textile recycling, textile technologies, services and more. > # ANDRITZ Nonwoven and Textile ANDRITZ Nonwoven and Textile is a Machinery Manufacturing company. ANDRITZ provides state-of-the-art nonwoven technology and textile technology for a great variety of applications. Each important technology is represented by the outstanding ANDRITZ engineering intelligence. From spunlace to spunlaid, from wetlaid and wetlace, needlepunch and pioneering calendaring innovations as well as air-through-bonding, hygiene converting and textile recycling.[/summary. ANDRITZ Nonwoven and Texti… ANDRITZ Nonwoven and Textile is a Machinery Manufacturing company. ANDRITZ provides state-of-the-art nonwoven technology and textile technology for a great variety of applications. Each important technology is represented by the outstanding ANDRITZ engineering intelligence. From spunlace to spunlaid, from wetlaid and wetlace, needlepunch and pioneering calendaring innovations as well as air-through-bonding, hygiene converting and textile recycling.[/summary. ANDRITZ Nonwoven and Textile employs 50 people (% YoY, +13 people). Headquartered in Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with presence in United States, France, China, and Italy. Its workforce is distributed across 5 countries (including France, United States, Germany, Italy, and India). ... ANDRITZ Nonwoven & Textile provides state-of-the-art technologies and unique expertise in the installation of complete nonwovens lines. Our brand name "nonwoven eXcellence" stands for certified high-quality performance from forming to finishing: integrated solutions for Airlaid, Air Through-Bonding, Needlepunch, Hygiene Converting, Wetlaid, Spunlace, Airlaid, Airlay, Textile Recycling and Nonwoven & Textile Calenders. ANDRITZ Nonwoven & Textile is one of the leading technology group in many manufacturing processes for nonwovens. It is represented by three development and technology sites: ANDRITZ Asselin-Thibeau and ANDRITZ Perfojet in France and ANDRITZ Küsters in Germany and ANDRITZ Diatec in Italy. 2021 ANDRITZ Laroche from France joined the family, in 2023 ANDRITZ Dan-Web in Denmark. There are also our service and sales locations ANDRITZ Wuxi in China and ANDRITZ Spartanburg and ANDRITZ Torrington in the U.S. ... With state-of-the-art installations in our technical centers in Germany and France, ANDRITZ experts serve as your partners in product development. Technical centers are available for each production technology: Wetlaid, Needlepunch, Spunlace and Nonwoven & Textile Calenders and also pilot lines for Converting. ... woven and textile ... > > Discover the ANDRITZ Nonwoven & Textile Media & Downloads area, your central access point for information about our extensive portfolio of machinery, technologies and services. > > 📘 Brochures and flyers > 🎬 Videos > 📷 Pictures > ⚙️ Technology-specific information > > Explore content covering hygiene converting, needlepunch, spunbond, spunlace, Wetlace™, air-through bonding, textile recycling, textile technologies, services and more. > > ... need and discover how ANDRITZ supports a wide range of industries and applications: > ... d-2 ... hu44 ... Textiles # # ANDRITZ Nonwoven and Textile ANDRITZ Nonwoven and Textile is a Machinery Manufacturing company. ANDRITZ provides state-of-the-art nonwoven technology and textile technology for a great variety of applications. Each important technology is represented by the outstanding ANDRITZ engineering intelligence. From spunlace to spunlaid, from wetlaid and wetlace, needlepunch and pioneering c…
    Why it’s hereRuns technical centres in Germany and France with wet-laid, water-jet bonding (spunlace) and combined wet-laid-and-water-jet-bonded pilot lines for trials.
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  6. 51Web page: Southeast Nonwovens, Inc. (SENW), southeastnonwovens.com
    Southeast Nonwovens, Inc. has all the technology you need to consult, develop, test and produce your next generation fiber-based product…all in one facility. We have been in business 21 years, serving the staple fiber-based nonwovens industry as an independent facility for research, testing, trialing and manufacturing. Our goal is to offer our clients cost-effective services designed to accelerate the rate of product development, commercialization, & manufacturing. ... Come meet our material science experts. They will understand your requirements, design a product using our laboratory & pilot scale equipment, then identify a manufacturing process. Come tour our manufacturing facilities, designed for custom product production on a contract basis. Our system flexibility allows all your quality standards, making SENW a perfect choice for long-term manufacturing of your small volume, high value products. Converting services? We can do that too. ... airlay, commercialization, composites, consulting, converting, cost-effective services, drylay, filtration, hydroentangling, insulation, laminating, manufacturing, material science, needlepunch, nonwoven development, nonwovens, product development, prototyping, research, technology/engineering, textiles, wetlay ... - [2025-04-24 · 44 reactions, 1 comment] We can produce all your wetlaid carbon nonwovens needs. Carbon and carbon blends. From 6 gsm to 300 gsm. 20 mm wide to 1600 mm wide. Tariff free. Made in the USA. Roll goods, sheet goods, and lamin... - [2025-04-02 · 1 reaction] Happy to add Klieverik's state of the art equipment to our Thermal Laboratory capabilities. # Southeast Nonwovens, Inc. (SENW) Southeast Nonwovens, Inc. (SENW) is a Textile Manufacturing company. Southeast Nonwovens is an independent technology development center in North America that offers cost-effective services designed to accelerate the rate of product development, commercialization, and manufacturing. Southeast Nonwovens, Inc. (SENW) employs 6 people, founded in 1997. Headquartered in Clover, South Carolina, United States. ## About You have a great new idea for a marketable fiber-based product. You see it in your mind, sketch it out, and realize it’s worth pursuing. So, what’s next? Who can convert your concept into reality? Southeast Nonwovens, Inc. has all the technology you need to consult, develop, test and produce your next generation fiber-based product…all in one facility. We have been in business 21 years, serving the staple fiber-based nonwovens industry as an independent facility for research, testing, trialing and manufacturing. Our goal is to offer our clients cost-effective services designed to accelerate the rate of product development, commercialization, & manufacturing. Who are our clients? Those who supply the nonwovens industry. Those who manufacture nonwovens/fiber-based materials. Those who use nonwovens/fiber-based materials either as an end product or as a component in another product. …
    Why it’s hereLab and pilot wet-laying and hydroentangling trials
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  7. 52Web page: Pill Nassvliestechnik, wetlaid.tech
    # Pill Nassvliestechnik Pill Nassvliestechnik is a Paper and Forest Product Manufacturing company. PILL WETLAID TECH is a company that specializes in wetlaid technology, which is a homogeneous web formation. They have laboratory plants for leading companies and offer in-house product development with innovative fiber raw materials. Their goal is to achieve significant time, cost, and competitive advantages. Pill Nassvliestechnik employs 2 people. Headquartered in Reutlingen, Germany, with presence in United States. ## About PILL WETLAID TECH is a company that specializes in wetlaid technology, which is a homogeneous web formation. They have laboratory plants for leading companies and offer in-house product development with innovative fiber raw materials. Their goal is to achieve significant time, cost, and competitive advantages. ## Company Details - Industry: Paper and Forest Product Manufacturing - Headquarters: Reutlingen, Germany - Homepage: wetlaid.tech - Aliases: pill nassvliestechnik - LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/pill-nassvliestechnik - Linkedin Followers: 7 ## Workforce - Employees: 2 ## Web presence - Web traffic: - Bounce rate: 0.0% - Pages per visit: 0.0 - Average visit duration: 0s ## Categories competitive advantages, fiber raw materials, laboratory plants, technology/manufacturing, web formation, wetlaid technology ## Locations - Headquarters: reutlingen, germany (DE) - Offices: reutlingen, germany (DE), reutlingen, baden-wuerttemberg, germany # Pill Nassvliestechnik Pill Nassvliestechnik is a Paper and Forest Product Manufacturing company. PILL WETLAID TECH is a company that specializes in wetlaid technology, which is a homogeneous web formation. They have laboratory plants for leading companies and offer in-house product development with innovative fiber raw materials. Their goal is to achieve significant time, cost, and competitive advantages. Pill Nassvliestechnik employs 2 people. Headquartered in Reutlingen, Germany, with presence in United States. ## About PILL WETLAID TECH is a company that specializes in wetlaid technology, which is a homogeneous web formation. They have laboratory plants for leading companies and offer in-house product development with innovative fiber raw materials. Their goal is to achieve significant time, cost, and competitive advantages. ## Company Details - Industry: Paper and Forest Product Manufacturing - Headquarters: Reutlingen, Germany - Homepage: wetlaid.tech - Aliases: pill nassvliestechnik - LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/pill-nassvliestechnik - Linkedin Followers: 7 ## Workforce - Employees: 2 ## Web presence - Web traffic: - Bounce rate: 0.0% - Pages per visit: 0.0 - Average visit duration: 0s ## Categories competitive advantages, fiber raw materials, laboratory plants, technology/manufacturing, web formation, wetlaid technology ## Locations - Headquarters: reutlingen, germany (DE) - Offices: reutlingen, germany (DE), reutlingen, baden-wuerttemberg, germany
    Why it’s hereWet-laid laboratory sheet-forming plants
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  8. 53Web page: NWSP 402.0 Cup Crush » SGS-IPS Testing, ipstesting.com
    The material must have sufficient structural integrity to be formed into the cup shape and then be able to maintain that shape until it is tested. ... A 225-mm square specimen ... A 44.5 mm diameter hemispherical-shaped plunger
    Why it’s hereCup-crush softness test conditions: specimen size and plunger geometry.
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  9. 54Web page: Internal sizing - Kemira, kemira.com
    Internal sizing - Kemira FennoSize KD portfolio consists of easy-to-use anionic or cationic alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) products for various grades, e.g. fine paper,
    Why it’s hereWater-repelling wax dispersions for papermaking
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  10. 55Web page: Retention & Drainage Aids | Solenis, solenis.com
    Chemical Solutions * Organic microparticles and micropolymers * Inorganic microparticles * Colloidal, highly-structured and onsite-generated silicas * Bentonites * Anionic and cationic polyacrylamides * Liquid emulsions and dispersions * Dry granular and bead polymers * Aqueous dispersed polymers * High-molecular weight products
    Why it’s hereColloidal silica and other retention aids for papermaking
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  11. 56Web page: Chemigate, chemigate.fi
    Chemigate Chemical Manufacturing Chemigate is a Finnish based company specialized in starch for industrial applications. Our biggest customer segment is the paper industry. Our portfolio includes different modifed starches and starch based polymers. We produce the cationic reagent which is used in the company’s own starches and starch based polymers, and it is also sold to the starch and chemical industry In Chemigate we are experts in our field; we know our products, the applications they are used in and the market requirements.
    Why it’s hereCationic starch
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  12. 57Web page: PTS – Institut für Fasern & Papier gGmbH, ptspaper.com
    • Material Testing & Analytics • Pilot plants paper/wet fleece/coating ... > 🔬 ... Kolleg:innen ... > > Genau das konnten wir gestern selbst herausfinden. Bei einem internen Event öffnete das Team der Pilotanlagen die Türen und gab Einblicke in Anlagen, Prozesse und Projekte. Eine gute Gelegenheit, die Arbeit anderer Bereiche besser kennenzulernen und einmal ganz praktisch zu sehen, woran gearbeitet wird. > > ... Stärkung zwische ... urch sorgte ein ... offströ ... beschichtungen auf Pflanzen ... basis für den Einsatz auf papier ... - [2026-09-02 · Posted · 4 reactions] [💡 Recyclability Testing for Fibre-Based Packaging – Practical &...](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/papiertechnische-stiftung-pts_register-now-activity-7500824840145350656-G9xD) > 💡 Recyclability Testing for Fibre-Based Packaging – Practical & Easy! > > The Cepi Recyclability Laboratory Test Method – Part I defines the latest standards for assessing the #recyclability of fibre-based packaging – a key building block for a circular future. ♻️ > But let’s be honest: In real-world applications, uncertainties and interpretation questions still pop up. > > 🔎 Turn Standards into Practice! > In our two-day training “Method Training on Recyclability Laboratory Test Method – Part I (Cepi V3) - Covering Updates coming from CEN TC 172 WG 2”, we take an in-depth look at the method covering latest developments in the field of standardization, answer practical questions, and connect the dots between standard requirements and industrial feasibility. > > You will: > ✅ Understand the updated method with expert lectures > ✅ Gain hands-on lab experience in PTS labs > ✅ Discuss challenges related to reproducability and repeatability > > 📅 October 7-8, 2026 > 📍 PTS Heidenau > 🗣️ Marie Geißler-Krell & Vanessa Wortmann > > Ready to Become a Recyclability Pro? > 🔗 Register now 👉 https://lnkd.in/d66H9GKV > > 🔔 More PTS Events & Trainings ➡ https://lnkd.in/ecsiGDWR > > #CircularEconomy #RecyclingStandards #FibrePackaging #RecyclabilityTesting #FiberResearch #PaperRecycling #SustainabilityInAction #LabTraining #MethodMastery #CircularPackaging #PaperInnovation #PTS #Cepi #CircularByDesign - [2026-09-02 · 4 reactions] 💡 Recyclability Testing for Fibre-Based Packaging – Practical & Easy! The Cepi Recyclability Laboratory Test Method – Part I defines the latest standards for assessing the #recyclability of fibre-b... # PTS – Institut für Fasern & Papier gGmbH PTS – Institut für Fasern & Papier gGmbH is a nonprofit organization. PTS is a research and services institute in the German paper industry. PTS – Institut für Fasern & Papier gGmbH employs 74 people (+1.4% YoY, +1 person), founded in 1951. Headquartered in Heidenau, Germany, with presence in United States. ## About THE research and service institute for innovation and sustainable, fiber-based solutions for the paper industry. 📍 Heidenau | near Dresden | Saxony | Germany 👩‍🏫 Events: • www.ptspaper.de/en/events ⚗️ Main resear…
    Why it’s herePilot plants for paper, wet-laid fleece and coating
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Background reading52

Background reading

52

Read while building the idea; not cited in the text.

  1. 25Patent application: US5284703A - High pulp content nonwoven composite fabric, US 5,284,703 A
    US5284703A - High pulp content nonwoven composite fabric European patent application 128,667 discloses an entangled composite fabric having an upper and lower surface. The upper surface is disclosed as having been US5284703A - High pulp content nonwoven composite fabric 4,808,467 to Suskind discloses a high-strength nonwoven fabric made of a mixture of wood pulp and textile fibers entangled with a continuous filament base web. US5284703A - High pulp content nonwoven composite fabric This high pulp content composite nonwoven fabric may be used as a heavy duty wiper or as a fluid distribution material, cover material, and/or absorbent
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  2. 26Patent: US6784126B2 - High pulp content nonwoven composite fabric - Google Patents, US 6,784,126 B2
    # High pulp content nonwoven composite fabric ## US6784126B2 United States [Download PDF](https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/42/5c/af/fb8e835122e7d1/US6784126.pdf) Find Prior Art Similar Inventor Cherie Hartman Everhart Danial Owen Fischer Current Assignee Kimberly Clark Worldwide Inc Worldwide applications 2002 US ... ### Description **4** and about 90 gsm Northern softwood pulp); and an absorbent core of 1) a C-folded double layer of a laminate composite having two 52 gsm plies of air-laid tissue sandwiching a 75 gsm layer of polyacrylate super absorbent particulates and 2) a 168 gsm longitudinally scored wood pulp fiber blotter paper. Each layer measured about 1.25 inches by about 8 inches. The layers were superposed into an absorbent structure that was held on a flat, horizontal surface. ... ### Patent Citations (37) Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title US2862251A 1955-04-12 1958-12-02 Chicopee Mfg Corp Method of and apparatus for producing nonwoven product ... EP0223614A2 1985-11-20 1987-05-27 Uni-Charm Corporation Process and apparatus for producing nonwoven fabric US4755421A 1987-08-07 1988-07-05 James River Corporation Of Virginia Hydroentangled disintegratable fabric US4775579A 1987-11-05 1988-10-04 James River Corporation Of Virginia Hydroentangled elastic and nonelastic filaments US4808467A 1987-09-15 1989-02-28 James River Corporation Of Virginia High strength hydroentangled nonwoven fabric ... EP0472355A1 1990-08-20 1992-02-26 James River Corporation Of Virginia Hydroentangled nonwoven fabric containing synthetic fibers having a ribbon-shaped crenulated cross-section and method of producing the same EP0492554A1 1990-12-21 1992-07-01 Kimberly-Clark Corporation High pulp content nonwoven composite fabric method of making and use of same US5151320A 1992-02-25 1992-09-29 The Dexter Corporation Hydroentangled spunbonded composite fabric and process ... ### Cited By (54) Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title US20060128247A1 * 2004-12-14 2006-06-15 Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. Embossed nonwoven fabric ... US11391000B2 2014-05-16 2022-07-19 First Quality Tissue, Llc Flushable wipe and method of forming the same CA2967043C 2014-11-12 2022-09-20 First Quality Tissue, Llc Cannabis fiber, absorbent cellulosic structures containing cannabis fiber and methods of making the same ... ### Similar Documents US8425729B2 2013-04-23 Embossed nonwoven fabric US6992028B2 2006-01-31 Multi-layer nonwoven fabric EP0830470B1 2002-11-06 Hydroentangled nonwoven composites KR101084890B1 2011-11-17 Soft and bulky composite fabric ... CA2306850A1 1999-04-29 Textured nonwoven composite material and method for making the same WO1998002608A1 1998-01-22 Hydroentangled nonwoven composites JP2533260C 1998-08-06 A high pulp content nonwoven composite fabric was made by wet-forming a 70 gsm web of Northern softwood pulp fibers (Longlac 19 available from the Kimberly-Clark Corporation) and then transferring the web onto a 0.6 osy (20 gsm) web of polypropylene spunbond filaments. A wet-strength resin identified as Kymene 557 H available from the Hercules Chemical Company, Wilmington, Del., was added to the pulp fibers at a rate of 5 dry pounds per ton of dry fibers. The spunbond filaments were bonded utilizing a pattern having approximately 306 pin bonds per square inch and a maximum bond area of about 16 percent when contacted with a smooth anvil roll. The laminate, having a total basis weight of about 90 gsm, was hydraulically entangled into a composite material utilizing 4 manifolds. Each manifold was equipped with a jet strip having one row of 0.007 inch holes at a density of 30 holes per inch. Water pressure in the manifolds was about 700 psi (gage). ... The spunbond filaments were bonded utilizing a pattern having approximately 306 pin bonds per square inch and a maximum bond area of about 16 percent when contacted with a smooth anvil roll. The laminate, having a total basis weight of about 90 gsm, was hydraulically entangled into a composite material utilizing the equipment and procedures described in Example 2. The composite fabric was dried by being passed over steam can rollers. The dried fabric was cold embossed. Physical properties of the composite fabric were measured and are reported in Table 1. Example 4 A high pulp content nonwoven composite fabric was made by wet-forming a 73 gsm web of Northern softwood pulp fibers (Longlac 19 available from the Kimberly-Clark Corporation) and then transferring the web onto a 0.5 osy (17 gsm) web of polypropylene spunbonded filaments. The spunbond filaments were bonded utilizing a pattern having approximately 103 pin bonds per square and a maximum bond area of about ... Tables 5 and 7 show that the absorbent structures containing the 110 gsm high pulp content nonwoven composite fabric of the present invention were able to absorb the test fluid as well as or better than the absorbent structures containing the surfactant-treated meltblown polypropylene fluid distribution layer. Example 17 A high pulp content nonwoven composite fabric was made by wet-forming a 76 gsm web from a mixture of about 30 percent, by weight, Northern softwood pulp fibers (Longlac 19 available from the Kimberly-Clark Corporation) and 70 percent, by weight, secondary fibers (BJ de-inked secondary fiber pulp available from the Ponderosa Pulp Products—a division of Ponderosa Fibers of America, Atlanta, Ga.) and transferring the web onto a 0.4 osy (14 gsm) web of polypropylene spunbond filaments. Quaker 2008 de-bonding agent (Quaker Chemical Company) was added to the pulp fibers at levels of 0, 1, 2 and 3 percent based on the weight of the dry pulp fibers. ... EP0472355A1 1990-08-20 1992-02-26 James River Corporation Of Virginia Hydroentangled nonwoven fabric containing synthetic fibers having a ribbon-shaped crenulated cross-section and method of producing the same EP0492554A1 1990-12-21 1992-07-01 Kimberly-Clark Corporation High pulp content nonwoven composite fabric method of making and use of same US5151320A 1992-02-25 1992-09-29 The Dexter Corporation Hydroentangled spunbonded composite fabric and process WO1993015248A1 1992-01-24 1993-08-05 Fiberweb North America, Inc. Composite elastic nonwoven fabric EP0304825B1 1987-08-28 1993-12-15 Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd. Continuous process for producing composite sheet of fiber Family To Family Citations US3494821A \* 1967-01-06 1970-02-10 Du Pont Patterned nonwoven fabric of hydraulically entangled textile fibers and reinforcing fibers \* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party ### Non-Patent Citations (10) Title Abstract, EP 0380127A, Aug.
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  3. 27Web page: High pulp content nonwoven composite fabric - Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc., freepatentsonline.com
    A high pulp content nonwoven composite fabric was made by wet-forming a 70 gsm web of Northern softwood pulp fibers (Longlac 19 available from the Kimberly-Clark Corporation) and then transferring the web onto a 0.6 osy (20 gsm) web of polypropylene spunbond filaments. A wet-strength resin identified as Kymene 557 H available from the Hercules Chemical Company, Wilmington, Del., was added to the pulp fibers at a rate of 5 dry pounds per ton of dry fibers. The spunbond filaments were bonded utilizing a pattern having approximately 306 pin bonds per square inch and a maximum bond area of about 16 percent when contacted with a smooth anvil roll. The laminate, having a total basis weight of about 90 gsm, was hydraulically entangled into a composite material utilizing 4 manifolds. Each manifold was equipped with a jet strip having one row of 0.007 inch holes at a density of 30 holes per inch. Water pressure in the manifolds was about 700 psi (gage). ... The spunbond filaments were bonded utilizing a pattern having approximately 306 pin bonds per square inch and a maximum bond area of about 16 percent when contacted with a smooth anvil roll. The laminate, having a total basis weight of about 90 gsm, was hydraulically entangled into a composite material utilizing the equipment and procedures described in Example 2. The composite fabric was dried by being passed over steam can rollers. The dried fabric was cold embossed. Physical properties of the composite fabric were measured and are reported in Table 1. # Example 4 A high pulp content nonwoven composite fabric was made by wet-forming a 73 gsm web of Northern softwood pulp fibers (Longlac 19 available from the Kimberly-Clark Corporation) and then transferring the web onto a 0.5 osy (17 gsm) web of polypropylene spunbonded filaments. The spunbond filaments were bonded utilizing a pattern having approximately 103 pin bonds per square and a maximum bond area of about 16.5 percent when contacted with a smooth anvil roll. The laminate, having a total basis weight of about 90 gsm, was hydraulically entangled into a composite material utilizing 3 manifolds at the same conditions given in Example 1. An adhesive available from the Rohm & Haas Company, Philadelphia, Pa., under the trade name Rhoplex® B was sprayed onto the composite fabric at a rate of about 0.9 gsm (to make up about 1 percent, by weight, of the 90 gsm composite). The composite fabric was then dried utilizing conventional through-air drying equipment. The peak load, peak strain (i.e., elongation) and peak Total Energy Absorbed were measured and are reported in Table 1. # Example 5 A high pulp content nonwoven composite fabric was made by wet-forming a 72 gsm web of Northern softwood pulp fibers (Longlac 19 available from the Kimberly-Clark Corporation) and then transferring the web onto a 0.5 osy (17 gsm) web of polypropylene spunbond filaments. ... Tables 5 and 7 show that the absorbent structures containing the 110 gsm high pulp content nonwoven composite fabric of the present invention were able to absorb the test fluid as well as or better than the absorbent structures containing the surfactant-treated meltblown polypropylene fluid distribution layer. # Example 17 A high pulp content nonwoven composite fabric was made by wet-forming a 76 gsm web from a mixture of about 30 percent, by weight, Northern softwood pulp fibers (Longlac 19 available from the Kimberly-Clark Corporation) and 70 percent, by weight, secondary fibers (BJ de-inked secondary fiber pulp available from the Ponderosa Pulp Products—a division of Ponderosa Fibers of America, Atlanta, Ga.) and transferring the web onto a 0.4 osy (14 gsm) web of polypropylene spunbond filaments. Quaker 2008 de-bonding agent (Quaker Chemical Company) was added to the pulp fibers at levels of 0, 1, 2 and 3 percent based on the weight of the dry pulp fibers.
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  4. 28Patent application: US20190161916A1 - Soft tissue comprising synthetic fibers - Google Patents, US 2019/0161916 A1
    # Soft tissue comprising synthetic fibers ## Abstract The invention also provides a tissue product comprising at least one wet laid multi-layered tissue web comprising a fiber furnish consisting essentially of synthetic fibers and short cellulosic fibers, the multi-layered tissue web having a first and second outer layer and a middle layer disposed there between where the synthetic fibers are selectively disposed in the middle layer. Generally the tissue product comprises less than about 30 percent, by weight of the tissue product, synthetic fiber. In a preferred embodiment the tissue product comprises non-fibrillated polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers having a circular cross-section shape with a diameter less than about 5.0 microns and are substantially free from long cellulosic fibers. Despite being free from long cellulosic fibers the tissue product have good strength and low stiffness. ... ## US20190161916A1 United States [Download PDF](https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/50/3a/40/e660b3cc36404d/US20190161916A1.pdf) Find Prior Art Similar Inventor Thomas Gerard Shannon Bo Shi Current Assignee Kimberly Clark Worldwide Inc Worldwide applications 2016 MX WO KR BR GB US AU ... ### Description Sometimes, a two-furnish system is used in which the first furnish comprises a wood pulp fiber having a relatively short fiber length, such as a hardwood kraft pulp fiber, and the second furnish is made of wood pulp fiber having a relatively long fiber length, such as softwood kraft pulp fiber. The short fiber furnish may be used to provide the finished product with a softer handfeel, while the long fiber furnish may be used to provide the finished product with strength. ... Exemplary thermoplastic fibers suitable for the present embodiments include polyesters (e.g., polyalkylene terephthalates such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) and the like), polyalkylenes (e.g., polyethylenes, polypropylenes and the like), poyacrylonitriles (PAN), and polyamides (nylons, for example, nylon-6, nylon 6,6, nylon-6,12, and the like). Preferred are PET fibers. * [0018] ... Suitable synthetic fibers for use in the present invention include polyesters (e.g., polyalkylene terephthalates such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polybutylene terephthalate (FBI) and the like), polyalkylenes (e.g., polyethylenes, polypropylenes and the like), poyacrylonitriles (PAN), and polyamides (nylons, for example, nylon-6, nylon 6,6, nylon-6,12, and the like). ... Further, tissues prepared according to the present disclosure are not treated with a sizing agent, such as alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) or alkenyl succinic anhydride (ASA), either during the tissue manufacturing process or after formation and drying of the tissue web. ... A spray boom situated underneath the Yankee dryer sprayed the creping composition onto the dryer surface. The creping compositions generally comprised a mixture of Crepetrol™ A2320 (adhesive agent) and Rezosol™ 4119 (release agent) (Ashland Water Technologies, Wilmington, Del.). Creping compositions were prepared by dissolution of the solid polymers into water followed by stirring until the solution was homogeneous. * [0083] ... ### Patent Citations (81) Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title Family To Family Citations US3057772A * 1957-04-23 1962-10-09 Riegel Paper Corp Synthetic fiber paper and method of making same ... US4904343A 1985-04-23 1990-02-27 American Cyanamid Company Non-woven activated carbon fabric US4755421A 1987-08-07 1988-07-05 James River Corporation Of Virginia Hydroentangled disintegratable fabric ... US7749356B2 2001-03-07 2010-07-06 Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. Method for using water insoluble chemical additives with pulp and products made by said method ... US7879188B2 * 2005-12-15 2011-02-01 Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. Additive compositions for treating various base sheets US8444811B2 2005-12-15 2013-05-21 Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. Process for increasing the basis weight of sheet materials ... ### Cited By (6) Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title US10450703B2 * 2017-02-22 2019-10-22 Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. Soft tissue comprising synthetic fibers
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  5. 29Web page: Patents Assigned to Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. - Justia Patents Search, patents.justia.com
    [Justia](https://www.justia.com) Patents Patents Assigned to Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. Patents Assigned to Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. * ###### High strength and low stiffness hesperaloe tissue **Patent number:** 10337149 **Abstract:** Soft, durable and bulky tissue products comprising non-wood fibers and more particularly high yield hesperaloe pulp fibers are disclosed. The tissue products preferably comprise at least about 5 percent, by weight of the product, high yield hesperaloe pulp fiber and have relatively modest tensile strengths, such as a geometric mean tensile (GMT) greater than about 1,000 g/3?, and improved durability and cross-machine direction (CD) properties, such as a CD Stretch greater than about 10 percent. Additionally, at the foregoing tensile strengths the products are not overly stiff. For example the tissue products may have a Stiffness Index less than about 10.0. **Type:** Grant **Filed:** November 17, 2017 **Date of Patent:** July 2, 2019 **Assignee:** KIMBERLY-CLARK WORLDWIDE, INC. **Inventors:** Kayla Elizabeth Rouse, Richard Louis Underhill, David John Paulson, Felicia Marie Sauer, Thomas Gerard Shannon * ###### Hesperaloe tissue having improved cross-machine direction properties **Patent number:** 10337148 **Abstract:** Soft, durable and bulky tissue products comprising non-wood fibers and more particularly high yield hesperaloe pulp fibers are disclosed. The tissue products preferably comprise at least about 5 percent, by weight of the product, high yield hesperaloe pulp fiber and have relatively modest tensile strengths, such as a geometric mean tensile (GMT) less than about 1,000 g/3?, and improved durability and cross-machine direction (CD) properties, such as a CD Stretch greater than about 10 percent. Additionally, at the foregoing tensile strengths the products are not overly stiff. For example the tissue products may have a Stiffness Index less than about 10.0. **Type:** Grant **Filed:** November 17, 2017 **Date of Patent:** July 2, 2019 **Assignee:** KIMBERLY-CLARK WORLDWIDE, INC. **Inventors:** Kayla Elizabeth Rouse, Richard Louis Underhill, David John Paulson, Felicia Marie Sauer, Thomas Gerard Shannon * ###### Highly dispersible hesperaloe tissue **Patent number:** 10337147 **Abstract:** The invention provides tissue products comprising hesperaloe fibers and having satisfactory strength in-use and good dispersibility. To produce the instant tissue products the inventors have successfully moderated the changes in strength and stiffness typically associated with substituting conventional wood papermaking fibers, such as NSWK, with hesperaloe fibers. Not only have the inventors succeeded in moderating changes to strength and stiffness they have improved dispersibility. As such, the tissue products of the present invention have properties comparable to, or better than, those produced using conventional papermaking fibers, such as wood pulp fibers. **Type:** Grant **Filed:** November 17, 2017 **Date of Patent:** July 2, 2019 **Assignee:** KIMBERLY-CLARK WORLDWIDE, INC. **Inventors:** Kayla Elizabeth Rouse, Richard Louis Underhill, David John Paulson, Felicia Marie Sauer * ###### Method of treating a web using an apparatus having a center bearer ring **Patent number:** 10327958 **Abstract:** Methods and apparatuses for treating webs are disclosed. ... **Assignee:** KIMBERLY-CLARK WORLDWIDE, INC. **Inventors:** Patrick Dean Abney, Paul Douglas Beuther, Kevin Gerald Dolan, David John Enz * ###### SOFT TISSUE COMPRISING SYNTHETIC FIBERS **Publication number:** 20190161916 **Abstract:** The present invention provides a tissue product formed from a fiber furnish consisting essentially of short cellulosic fibers, such as fibers having an average fiber length less than about 2.0 mm, and a synthetic fiber having at least one cross-section dimension less than about 20 microns. The invention also provides a tissue product comprising at least one wet laid multi-layered tissue web comprising a fiber furnish consisting essentially of synthetic fibers and short cellulosic fibers, the multi-layered tissue web having a first and second outer layer and a middle layer disposed there between where the synthetic fibers are selectively disposed in the middle layer. Generally the tissue product comprises less than about 30 percent, by weight of the tissue product, synthetic fiber. In a preferred embodiment the tissue product comprises non-fibrillated polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers having a circular cross-section shape with a diameter less than about 5. **Type:** Application **Filed:** September 29, 2016 **Publication date:** May 30, 2019 **Applicant:** Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. **Inventors:** Thomas Gerard Shannon, Bo Shi * ###### REINFORCED THERMOPLASTIC POLYOLEFIN ELASTOMER FILM **Publication number:** 20190153205 ... **Date of Patent:** May 7, 2019 **Assignee:** KIMBERLY-CLARK WORLDWIDE, INC. **Inventors:** Kevin Joseph Vogt, Peter John Allen, Jeffrey Dean Holz, Tara Marie Logut, Robert Eugene Krautkramer, Samuel August Nelson * ###### Tissue carton **Patent number:** D847660 **Type:** Grant **Filed:** January 31, 2018 **Date of Patent:** May 7, 2019 **Assignee:** KIMBERLY-CLARK WORLDWIDE, INC. **Inventors:** Jason John Schumaker, Gretchen Sarah Koch, Brandon Mark Hokanson [prev](https://patents.justia.com/assignee/kimberly-clark-worldwide-inc?page=34) … [31](https://patents.justia.com/assignee/kimberly-clark-worldwide-inc?page=31) [32](https://patents.justia.com/assignee/kimberly-clark-worldwide-inc?page=32)
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  6. 30Web page: Soft creped tissue having slow wet out time - Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc., freepatentsonline.com
    ... efficiency. The tissue products also have a sizing agent that increases the Wet Out time, without negatively impacting ... machine runability. Preferably the creping composition comprises a cationic component and a film forming component ... ch
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  7. 31Web page: With Winding Or Roll Forming Patents and Patent Applications (Class 162/118) - Justia Patents Search, patents.justia.com
    The tissue products also have a sizing agent that increases the Wet Out time, without negatively impacting softness or machine runability. Preferably the creping composition comprises a cationic component and a film forming component, both of which are preferably water soluble. The cationic component carries a cationic charge that is capable of forming ionic bonds with the negatively charged fibers of the tissue web, thus providing a retention mechanism by which the creping composition is retained on the sheet. The overall retention of the creping composition on the sheet reduces the concentration of the composition in the machine process water, improving machine operability and runability. **Type:** Grant **Filed:** March 20, 2012 **Date of Patent:** September 16, 2014 **Assignee:** Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. ... **Assignee:** Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. **Inventors:** Michael Alan Hermans, Samuel August Nelson, Paulin Pawar * ###### [Conductive webs and process for making same](https://patents.justia.com/patent/8372242) **Patent number:** 8372242 **Abstract:** Conductive nonwoven webs are disclosed. The nonwoven webs contain pulp fibers combined with conductive fibers. In one embodiment, the webs are made in a wetlaid tissue or paper making process. The pulp fibers contained in the webs may comprise softwood fibers, while the conductive fibers may comprise carbon fibers. Base webs can be produced having a resistance of less than about 100 Ohms/square in one embodiment. Once produced, the conductive material can be cut into slits that are then wound on spools. From the spools, the conductive slits can be fed into a process for making any suitable product. **Type:** Grant **Filed:** May 7, 2012 **Date of Patent:** February 12, 2013 ... **Inventors:** Thomas Michael Ales, Davis-Dang H. Nhan, Duane Joseph Shukoski, Michael John Rekoske * ###### [Conductive webs and process for making same](https://patents.justia.com/patent/8172982) **Patent number:** 8172982 **Abstract:** Conductive nonwoven webs are disclosed. The nonwoven webs contain pulp fibers combined with conductive fibers. In one embodiment, the webs are made in a wetlaid tissue or paper making process. The pulp fibers contained in the webs may comprise softwood fibers, while the conductive fibers may comprise carbon fibers. Base webs can be produced having a resistance of less than about 100 Ohms/square in one embodiment. Once produced, the conductive material can be cut into slits that are then wound on spools. From the spools, the conductive slits can be fed into a process for making any suitable product. **Type:** Grant **Filed:** December 22, 2008 **Date of Patent:** May 8, 2012 **Assignee:** Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc.
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  8. 32Web page: Absorbent barrier tissue Patent Grant Zwick , et al. November 25, 2 [Carson; Peter Lee], uspto.report
    al.** |**November 25, 2014** | |**\*\*Please see images for:** **( Certificate of Correction )** **\*\*** | | --- | * * * Absorbent barrier tissue **Abstract** In general, the present disclosure is directed to creped tissue webs, and products produced therefrom. The creped webs and products are strong, soft, and have improved strike-through and absorbency properties. The improvement in both strike-through and absorbency is achieved in-part by increasing the basis weight of the web, while at the same time reducing the creping composition add-on levels. * * * Inventors: **Zwick; Kenneth John** (Neenah, WI) **, Carson; Peter Lee** (Appleton, WI) **, Shanklin; Gary Lee** (Fremont, WI) **, Smaby; Michael William** (Neenah, WI) **, Rekoske; Michael John** (Appleton, WI) **, Dyer; Thomas Joseph** (Neenah, WI) **, Goulet; Mike Thomas** (Neenah, WI) Applicant: |Name |City |State |Country |Type | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | |** Zwick; Kenneth John Carson; Peter Lee ... In one embodiment, the tissue webs are creped, wherein the creping composition comprises a thermoplastic resin, such as the composition disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,807,023, which is incorporated herein in a manner consistent with the present disclosure. The thermoplastic resin may be contained, for instance, in an aqueous dispersion prior to application to the creping surface. In one particular embodiment, the creping composition may comprise a non-fibrous olefin polymer. The creping composition, for instance, may comprise a film-forming composition and the olefin polymer may comprise an interpolymer of ethylene and at least one comonomer comprising an alkene, such as 1-octene. The creping composition may also contain a dispersing agent, such as a carboxylic acid. Examples of particular dispersing agents, for instance, include fatty acids, such as oleic acid or stearic acid. In one particular embodiment, the creping composition may contain ... copolymer may be present in the creping composition in combination with a dispersing agent, such as a fatty acid. Once applied to a tissue web, it has been discovered that the creping composition may form a discontinuous film depending upon the amount applied to the web. In other embodiments, the creping composition may be applied to a web such that the creping composition forms discrete treated areas on the surface of the web. Accordingly, in certain embodiments the disclosure provides a creped tissue product, wherein the product has a basis weight of at least about 30 gsm, and more preferably at least about 32 gsm, such as from about 32 to about 50 gsm. The tissue products preferably have an absorbent capacity of at least about 25 g and more preferably at least about 27 g and still more preferably at least about 28 g, such as from about 27 to about 35 g. Further, tissue products having improved absorbent capacity and increased basis ... In multiple-ply products, the basis weight of each fibrous web present in the product may vary. In general, the total basis weight of a multiple-ply product will generally be from about 30 to about 60 gsm, such as from about 32 to about 45 gsm, and more preferably from about 35 to about 40 gsm. In particularly preferred embodiments the tissue product is a multi-ply facial tissue wherein each ply has a basis weight from about 15 to about 30 gsm, such as from about 16 to about 22.5 gsm, and more preferably from about 17\.5 to about 20 gsm. In addition to having increased basis weights, tissue sheets made according to the present disclosure may possess a desirable water absorption rate. Tissue sheets prepared as set forth herein generally have a Wet Out time that is at least 2 times longer (measured as described below in the test methods section) compared to tissue prepared using conventional creping chemistries. ... The plied sheet was then slit on the edges to a standard width of approximately 8.5 inches, and cut to facial tissue length. Tissue samples were conditioned and tested. TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 Absorbent Basis Creping Add-On Wet Out HST Capacity Weight Sample Chemistry (mg/m.sup.2) Time (sec) (sec) (g) (gsm) 1 Conventional 10 3.23 0.38 40.32 37.31 2 Conventional 10 2\.96 0.42 39.83 33.49 3 Conventional 10 3.18 0.42 33.03 30.66 4 Water 225 2.84 0.18 33.03 28.26 Soluble 5 Water 225 3.24 0.22 39.83 34\.09 Soluble 6 Water 225 3.38 0.20 39.88 36.58 Soluble 7 Non-fibrous 220 89.52 5.28 24.46 29.81 Olefin 8 Non-fibrous 220 85\.68 6.94 29.07 34.63 Olefin 9 Non-fibrous 220 108.81 8.40 28.88 36\.32 Olefin Referring to FIG. 1, the effect of basis weight on strike-through is illustrated for the three different creping compositions of the present example. As can be seen from FIG. 1, there is little or no increase in strike-through as basis weight is increased for tissue webs treated with either a conventional creping composition or a water soluble composition. However, for webs prepared using a non-fibrous olefin creping composition, strike-through increases significantly as basis weight is increased. The effect of creping composition was further explored by varying the add-on level of the non-fibrous olefin creping composition. Webs were prepared at three different add-on levels, as summarized in the table below. TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 5 Wet Out Absorbent Specific Basis Add-On Time HST Capacity Capacity Weight Sample Creping Chemistry (mg/m.sup.2) (sec) (sec) (g) (g/g) (gsm) 10 Non-fibrous Olefin 100 32.48 3.48 29\.60 7.45 33.22 11 Non-fibrous Olefin 150 44.41 2.99 28.85 7.24 33\.14 12 Non-fibrous
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  9. 33Patent: US6949167B2 - Tissue products having uniformly deposited hydrophobic additives and controlled wettability - Google Patents, US 6,949,167 B2
    # Tissue products having uniformly deposited hydrophobic additives and controlled wettability ## Abstract Tissue products are disclosed that contain a hydrophobic additive, such as a polysiloxane. In accordance with the present invention, the tissue products are further treated with a wetting agent. The wetting agent may be applied after application of the hydrophobic additive to one or more surfaces of the base sheet. The wetting agent improves the wettability properties of the base sheet. ... ## US6949167B2 United States [Download PDF](https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/cf/2e/ac/c1f258aa56ebe7/US6949167.pdf) Find Prior Art Similar Inventor Thomas G. Shannon David A. Moline John J. Urlaub Current Assignee Kimberly Clark Worldwide Inc Worldwide applications ... ### Description In addition, synthetic fibers may also be utilized in the present invention. The discussion herein regarding pulp fibers is understood to include synthetic fibers. ... The flow rates of the stock pulp fiber slurries into the flow spreader were adjusted to give a target tissue sheet basis weight of about 12.7 gsm and a layer split of about 65% Eucalyptus hardwood kraft pulp fibers in the dryer side layer and about 35% LL-19 northern softwood kraft pulp fibers in the felt side layer. The stock pulp fiber slurries were drained on the forming fabric, building a layered embryonic tissue sheet. ... ### Patent Citations (60) Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title US3556932A 1965-07-12 1971-01-19 American Cyanamid Co Water-soluble,ionic,glyoxylated,vinylamide,wet-strength resin and paper made therewith ... ### Cited By (69) Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title US20060130989A1 * 2004-12-22 2006-06-22 Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. Tissue products treated with a polysiloxane containing softening composition that are wettable and have a lotiony-soft handfeel
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  10. 58Paper: Separation and analysis techniques for bound and unbound alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) in paper: A review, Kumar et al.2016
    S. Kumar, V. S. Chauhan and S. K. Chakrabarti
    all of AKD does not chemically react with fibers; some of it may undergo hydrolysis in water to form unstable β-keto acids, which decarboxylate to the corresponding ketone... The sizing effect depends mainly on the quantity of chemically reacted (bound) AKD in paper
    Why it’s hereReview: not all wax reacts with fibres; sizing depends mainly on the chemically bound fraction.
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  11. 59Paper: Neutral Sizing and the Mechanism of Alkyl Ketene Dimer Sizing, Roberts et al.1985
    J. C. Roberts, D. Garner and U. AkpabioTrans. of the VIIIth Fund. Res. Symp. Oxford, 1985
    The reactivity of tetradecyl ketene dimer towards water and model compounds for cellulose has been shown to be very low... the dimer is present in the sheet predominantly in its unreacted form, but that a small percentage is present in a form which is not amenable to extraction by chloroform. This residual size exerts a considerable sizing effect
    Why it’s hereMost wax stays unreacted in the sheet, yet a small non-extractable fraction gives a considerable sizing effect.
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  12. 60Paper: Alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) sizing of paper under simplified treatment conditions, Bildik et al.2016
    A. Bildik, M. Hubbe and K. B. Gürboy
    the AKD wax was dissolved in heptane and applied to filter paper... Surprisingly, hydrophobic character was obtained regardless of whether or not the treated sheets had been heat cured... AKD size... is relatively unreactive towards both water and hydroxyl-containing compounds
    Why it’s hereWax applied from solvent made filter paper water-repelling with or without heat curing.
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  13. 61Paper: Diatomite Modified with an Alkyl Ketene Dimer for Hydrophobicity of Cellulosic Paper, Chen et al.2022
    Z. Chen, G. Fan, X. He and 4 moreACS Omega
    Since ketones were not detected in Fourier-transform infrared spectra of the paper sheet filled by the AD, the chemical reaction may not be indispensable for its sizing performance.
    Why it’s hereWax-modified filler sized paper without detectable reaction products, suggesting reaction is not indispensable.
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  14. 62Web page: TAPPI T 530 Hercules size test » SGS-IPS Testing, ipstesting.com
    The TAPPI T 530 Hercules size test measures the resistance of paper to permeation of an aqueous penetrant and is a useful general purpose test for degree of sizing.
    Why it’s hereStandard ink-penetration size test used to measure degree of sizing in the source studies.
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  15. 63Web page: ASTM D3285-93(2005) Standard Test Method for Water Absorptiveness of Nonbibulous Paper and Paperboard (Cobb Test), webstore.ansi.org
    determination of the quantity of water absorbed in a specified time by nonbibulous paper and paperboard with a minimum thickness of 0.1 mm... generally applicable to sized paper and paperboard
    Why it’s hereCobb test for water absorbed by sized paper in a set time, used in the source measurements.
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  16. 64Paper: Theoretical assessment and experimental analysis of liquid entry pressure in membrane distillation process, Park et al.2017
    C. Park, D. Shin, C. Lee and 2 moreDesalination and Water Treatment
    contact angle and liquid entry pressure of all composite membranes... exceeded 160 degrees and 0.3 MPa... composite membranes with larger support pore size... had higher membrane distillation flux
    Why it’s hereMembrane study linking liquid entry pressure and support pore size to flux in membrane distillation.
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  17. 65Web page: Liquid Entry Pressure (LEP or LEPW), doi.org2015
    A theoretical expression, based on Young-Laplace equation, enables the estimation of LEP... where (γ) is the liquid surface tension, (θ) the contact angle between liquid and membrane, and (r) is the pore radius.
    Why it’s hereReference entry giving the textbook entry-pressure expression from surface tension, contact angle and pore radius.
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  18. 66Paper: The Porous Structure of Paper – Its Measurement, its Importance and its Modification by Beating, Corte1957
    H. CorteTrans. of the Ist Fund. Res. Symp. Cambridge, 1957
    Permeation of water vapour is shown to be a surface diffusion process... The penetration of inert liquids follows the Poiseuille law, but is affected additionally by the interface tension between the liquid and cellulose.
    Why it’s hereClassic paper-structure study: vapour moves by surface diffusion; liquid penetration also depends on interfacial tension.
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  19. 67Web page: AKD flocculation and deposition on fines and fibres (Mattsson, Sterte, Ödberg), bioresources.cnr.ncsu.edu
    important factors for sizing efficiency are retention, distribution of the AKD particles on the fibres, spreading and the extent of reaction with the cellulose... An inhomogeneous distribution could lead to an inefficient sizing if AKD does not spread efficiently during drying.
    Why it’s hereUneven particle distribution gives poor sizing if the wax does not spread well during drying.
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  20. 68Web page: HERCULES SIZING TESTER, aderholdfirm.com
    Ink is placed on a sample of paper and a photoelectric cell registers the drop in reflectance... an automatic timer is stopped to indicate the test time
    Why it’s hereInstrument manual for the ink-resistance size tester, timing reflectance drop as ink penetrates.
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  21. 69Paper: Contact angle measurement and surface energetics of sized and unsized paper, Shen et al.2000
    W. Shen, Y. Filonanko, Y. Truong and 4 moreColloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects
    some factors associated with the topographical and chemical heterogeneity of paper (particularly sized sheets) that may cause contact angle data to lead to incorrect prediction of surface energetics
    Why it’s herePaper's topographic and chemical heterogeneity can make contact-angle data mislead about surface energy.
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  22. 70Paper: Burst behavior at a capillary tip: Effect of low and high surface tension, Agonafer et al.2015
    D. D. Agonafer, K. Lopez, J. W. Palko and 3 moreJournal of Colloid and Interface Science
    Outer diameters ranging from 250 to 840 µm … Laplace pressures up to 2.9 kPa … burst pressure is a function of the outer diameter (D) and capillary exit edge radius of curvature (r).
    Why it’s hereBurst pressure at a capillary tip depends on outer diameter and edge curvature, relevant to coverage edges.
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  23. 71Paper: Capillary Hysteresis in Neutrally Wettable Fibrous Media: A Pore Network Study of a Fuel Cell Electrode, Tranter et al.2017
    T. Tranter, J. Gostick, A. Burns and 1 moreTransport in Porous Media
    The classic Washburn relation was shown to produce erroneous results, and its use is not recommended when modelling fibrous media. The toroidal model predicts that the meniscus will advance past the throat apex before reaching the critical or breakthrough pressure, increasing curvature due to the locally diverging geometry.
    Why it’s hereFibrous-media capillary model: Washburn fails, and menisci advance past throats before breakthrough.
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  24. 72Web page: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) - ECHA, echa.europa.eu
    ECHA supports PFAS restriction with targeted derogations, 26 March 2026; updated restriction proposal published 20 August 2025; risk assessment committee opinion adopted 3 March 2026; textiles among the sectors evaluated.
    Why it’s hereEU universal fluorochemical restriction timeline, motivating the fluorine-free requirement.
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  25. 73Web page: Standard Test Methods for Gravimetric Determination of Water Vapor Transmission Rate of Materials, astm.org
    A WVTR result obtained in one method under one set of test conditions cannot be used to predict the result … with a different set of conditions, or using the other method.
    Why it’s hereVapour-transmission standard; warns results under one condition cannot predict another.
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  26. 74Web page: BREATHABLE BACKSHEET, ABSORBENT ARTICLES, AND METHODS - ATTENDS HEALTHCARE PRODUCTS, INC., freepatentsonline.com
    The present disclosure includes cellulosic fiber barrier layer having a hydrophobic sizing to cause the barrier layer to exhibit hydrophobic properties. For example, the present cellulosic fiber barrier layers can be configured to have a high hydrostatic head (e.g., more than 200 mm H2O) while retaining a high air permeability (e.g., 0.5 ft3/min-ft2).
    Why it’s herePatent application for sized cellulose barrier layer pairing over 200 mm water head with air permeability.
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  27. 75Patent: Absorbent article with a channel-forming area and a masking layer, US 12,004,934 B22021
    Procter and Gamble CoInventors: E. G. BIANCHI, M. K. Hippe, A. Chatterjee and 4 more
    A separate masking layer between the absorbent core and a liquid-impermeable backsheet, opacity ≥~25%, air permeability >150 m³/m²/min, caliper 0.1–2.0 mm, 25–100 gsm.
    Why it’s hereSeparate masking layer hides stains above a liquid-impermeable backsheet; contrast for the fine-fibre veil.
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  28. 76Patent: Absorbent articles with decolorizing agents, US 9,161,869 B22013
    Kimberly Clark Worldwide IncInventors: S. Lee, S. Aryal, F. Aschenbrenner and 5 more
    decolorizing agent applied to a layer at the article's side edges that extends laterally beyond the core; the decolorizing layer is a meltblown layer, and most dependent claims recite a laminate of a meltblown nonwoven layer and a film layer
    Why it’s hereDecolorizing agents in a meltblown layer, mostly laminated with film, to mask stains.
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  29. 77Paper: Inertial burst and pinning in segmented capillary geometries, Saha & Sobhani2026
    A. Saha and S. SobhaniThe Physics of Fluids
    Threshold behavior requires discrete curvature discontinuities; smooth geometric tapers modulate velocity continuously but produce no pressure barrier, reducing the system to a distributed flow resistor.
    Why it’s herePressure barriers need discrete curvature discontinuities; smooth tapers only resist flow continuously.
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  30. 78Patent application: Breathable backsheet, absorbent articles, and methods, CA 2988945 A12016
    Attends Healthcare Products IncInventors: H. Chmielewski, E. Seames and B. M. Spain
    a sizing agent can be added to a pulp slurry prior to forming the sheet of cellulosic fiber material, or can be applied in a finishing step, for example in a size press or coater, after drying of the formed sheet of cellulosic fiber material but prior to lamination to the nonwoven
    Why it’s hereCanadian member of the breathable sized-cellulose backsheet family, sizing at slurry or finishing stage.
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  31. 79Web page: Articles, etc., with Abstracts & Links to PDFs, hubbepaperchem.cnr.ncsu.edu
    Retention aids can be defined as very-high-mass, water-soluble polymers that are added to cellulosic fiber slurries before the formation of paper in order to improve the efficiency with which fine particles, including cellulosic fines, are retained in the paper product.
    Why it’s hereDefines retention aids added to fibre slurries to hold fine particles in the sheet.
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  32. 80Paper: A Preliminary Study of the Spreading of AKD in the Presence of Capillary Structures., Shen & Parker2001
    W. Shen and I. ParkerJournal of Colloid and Interface Science
    Why it’s hereStudy of how the wax spreads in the presence of capillary structures.
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  33. 81Paper: An experimental investigation of the redistribution behaviour of alkyl ketene dimers and their corresponding ketones, Shen et al.2003
    W. Shen, F. Xu and I. Parker
    Why it’s hereExperimental study of how the wax and its ketone redistribute.
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  34. 82Paper: Seepage Characteristics of Mixed-Wettability Porous Media on the Phase-Field Model, Chen et al.2022
    S. Chen, J. Zhang, M. Mohammed and 3 moreACS Omega
    the greatest pressure drop due to capillary resistance and step changes in the neutral-hydrophobic transition zone
    Why it’s hereMixed-wettability media show the largest pressure drop at wettability transition zones.
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  35. 83Web page: Wet-laid nonwovens manufacture – Chemical approaches using synthetic and cellulosic fibers, bioresources.cnr.ncsu.edu
    the synthetic fibers generally display insufficient conformability of their surfaces and insufficient hydrogen bonding ability to become bound together upon simple drying of the sheet
    Why it’s hereSynthetic fibres bond poorly on simple drying, limiting hydrogen-bond consolidation of wet-laid webs.
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  36. 84Paper: Preparation and Applications of Electrospun Optically Transparent Fibrous Membrane, Xiao et al.2021
    Y. Xiao, H. Luo, R. Tang and 1 morePolymers
    Transmittance falls as areal density rises; the web dense enough to be opaque is the web that is stiff and low-permeability.
    Why it’s hereOpacity rises with areal density, so opaque webs tend to be stiff and less permeable.
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  37. 85Web page: AKD sized paper reversion due to oxidative photodegradation (TAPPI J., 2024), researchgate.net
    reversion is degradation of the chemistry by light and oxygen, accelerated by temperature variation
    Why it’s hereWax sizing degrades under light and oxygen, faster with temperature swings; informs light-protected ripening.
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  38. 86Web page: Effects of hydrophobic sizing on paper dry and wet-strength properties (BioResources 16(3):5350), bioresources.cnr.ncsu.edu
    AKD sizing had no significant effect on the dry strength of NBSK handsheets... both AKD sizing methods resulted in a substantial and long-lasting increase of handsheet wet-strength.
    Why it’s hereWax sizing left dry strength unchanged and gave a lasting rise in handsheet wet strength.
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  39. 87Web page: Medical Nonwoven Fabric Supplier, olefins.net
    SMMS — High Barrier | 40-60 GSM | Level 3-4 | ≥50 cm H₂O + Blood/Viral barrier for L4
    Why it’s hereMedical-grade multilayer spunmelt fabrics specified at 50 cm water head or more.
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  40. 88Web page: Standard Test Method for Air Permeability of Textile Fabrics, astm.org
    Standard Test Method for Air Permeability of Textile Fabrics, ASTM Committee D13.
    Why it’s hereStandard test method for air permeability of textile fabrics.
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  41. 89Web page: NBSK / Northern Bleached Softwood Kraft / Virgin Pulp Price 2026 — Bleached Softwood Kraft Pulp, opnplatform.com
    Current Price $964.5 $/t; Last Updated 2026-07-20. The page separately lists a USA benchmark of $1,120 per tonne.
    Why it’s hereSoftwood kraft pulp price used in the materials-cost estimate.
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  42. 90Web page: Bleached Chemi Thermomechanical Pulp (BCTMP), price-watch.ai
    Softwood Brightness 83–84% FOB Gothenburg ... USD 430–490 per metric ton by the end of Q1 2025.
    Why it’s hereChemi-thermomechanical pulp price used in the materials-cost estimate.
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  43. 91Web page: SCATMECH: Reflectance, pages.nist.gov
    Kubelka_Munk_Reflectance ... specific scattering and absorption coefficients and thickness and substrate reflectance.
    Why it’s hereReference implementation of the two-flux reflectance model used to estimate veil opacity.
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  44. 92Web page: Chapter 5: Retention in Neutral and Alkaline Papermaking (TAPPI), tappi.org
    Polymer adsorption in essence develops a localized cationic patch, while the overall particle surface remains anionic... For modern high molecular weight systems, this level is usually less than 0.05% on fiber weight.
    Why it’s hereAdsorbed polymer forms localized cationic patches on anionic particles, at low doses.
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  45. 93Paper: Optical Properties of Paper, Biermann1996
    C. Biermann
    Opacity, scattering and absorption coefficients of paper.
    Why it’s hereTextbook treatment of paper opacity, scattering and absorption coefficients.
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  46. 94Paper: The Influence of Basis Weight on Opacity and Light Absorption Coefficient of Paper, Yu & Chen2006
    D. Yu and K. Chen
    Influence of basis weight on opacity and light absorption coefficient of paper.
    Why it’s hereHow basis weight affects paper opacity and light absorption.
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  47. 95Web page: All news - ECHA, echa.europa.eu
    RAC has adopted its opinion drawing on an extensive and independent evaluation of PFAS hazards, volumes, emissions, risks and the likely effectiveness of a restriction as well as its practicality, including enforceability... Helsinki, 3 March 2026.
    Why it’s hereEU risk committee adopted its fluorochemical restriction opinion on 3 March 2026.
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  48. 96Web page: Per- en polyfluoralkylstoffen (PFAS) - ECHA, echa.europa.eu
    ECHA supports PFAS restriction with targeted derogations, 26 March 2026; consultation on the SEAC draft opinion on PFAS restriction - outcome, 3 June 2026; updated restriction proposal published 20 August 2025.
    Why it’s hereEU agency timeline for the universal fluorochemical restriction proposal.
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  49. 97Web page: ECHAs update on the REACH restriction on PFAS, efsa.europa.eu
    RAC adopted opinion 2 March; SEAC agreed draft opinion 10 March; SEAC final opinion by end 2026. Covers full scope of the proposal.
    Why it’s hereUpdate on fluorochemical restriction committee opinions, final opinion due end 2026.
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  50. 98Web page: NWSP 80.6 Water Resistance (Hydrostatic Pressure) Test, eurolab.net
    Rate of increase of water pressure should be 10 ± 0.5 or 60 ± 3 cm H2O/min; using these two ratios can yield different results... A nylon mesh or mesh screen is sometimes used to support the sample... If this technique is used, it should be reported with the test results.
    Why it’s hereHydrostatic head test ramp rates and the requirement to report any support mesh.
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  51. 99Web page: Non Woven Fabric Price Trend 2026, Forecast, News, Chart, expertmarketresearch.com
    Global non woven fabric prices tracked close to the USD 1.74 to USD 1.92 per KG range projected for 2026.
    Why it’s hereNonwoven fabric price range for 2026, a cost reference.
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  52. 100Paper: Porous polymeric microparticles foamed with supercritical CO2 as scattering white pigments, Borgmann et al.2023
    L. Borgmann, S. Johnsen, C. S. d. Oliveira and 5 moreBioinspiration & Biomimetics
    Air-filled nano-scale cavities scatter broadband light, presented explicitly as 'a possible replacement for TiO₂ pigments'.
    Why it’s hereAir-filled cavities scatter broadband light, offered as a white-pigment replacement.
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