N-Chlorination of polyacrylamide (PAM, 0.5%) with NaOCl was maximized after 34 h at 5°C and after 1520 min at 25°C. The lower the addition level of NaOCl, the easier the N-chlorination occurred, contrary to those of low molecular amides. This phenomenon was explained by the formation of amino and carboxyl groups, and the electrostatic repulsive forces between -CONCl and ClO
-. The maximum level of N-chlorination was 63% based on NaOCl when 10 molar % of NaOCl to the carbamoyl group was applied to an aqueous solution of PAM.
The effect of N-chlorinated PAM (N-Cl-PAM) on paper strength was compared with that of an anionic PAM (A-PAM) with the same molecular weight (7.25×10
5). Polydimethyldiallylammonium chloride (PDMDAAC) was added as a retention aid for N-Cl-PAM and A-PAM at the level of 0.1% or 0.2% on pulp. Handsheets showed an increase in dry tensile strength, for example, of 46% by the addition of N-Cl-PAM at 0.5% level based on dry pulp at slightly alkaline conditions, while of only 25% in the case of A-PAM under the same adsorption rate (77%). When N-Cl-PAM was employed at slightly acidic conditions, the retention of N-Cl-PAM reached to 90% even if the retention aid was not present, and an increase in strength was 44%. It was suggested that the paper strength was greatly improved by the formation of covalent bonds to some extent.
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