Dielectric response of kraft paper from fibres modified by silica nanoparticles

Papers have been prepared from fibres that were modified by physical adsorption of silica nanoparticles. Cationic and anionic nanoparticles were adsorbed either directly onto wood fibres or using the layer-by-layer (LbL) technique where silica nanoparticles and a polyelectrolyte of opposite charge were adsorbed in consecutive layers. It was shown that it is possible to tailor the dielectric and mechanical properties of kraft paper by utilizing the pH-dependence of the charge density of both the nanoparticles and the polyelectrolyte during the build-up of layers onto wood fibres. With only one layer of cationic silica nanoparticles, 6.0 wt% of nanoparticles were adsorbed at pH 6, leading to almost complete coverage of the wood fibre surface, resulting in a paper with low dielectric losses and improved inplane tensile properties.