Institute of Solid State Physics


SS22WS22SS23WS23SS24WS24      Guidelines for Master Students

Monitoring structural changes in paper upon solvent uptake with Xray tomography
Maximilian Fuchs
Institute of Solid State Physics
https://tugraz.webex.com/tugraz/j.php?MTID=m0e9edf6219fdb613ef773c7469631445
11:15 - 12:15 Wednesday 06 December 2023 

The incorporation of water and organic volatiles, such as DMSO, by paper is a complex interplay between capillary transport and structural changes within cellulose-lignin-based fibers. Though paper is a convenience product used every day, little is known how swelling affects the pore space between fibers and the subsequent transport within it. We used X-ray microcomputed tomography (µCT) to monitor the spread of DMSO and water and the resulting microstructural changes that occur over extended periods of time. Interestingly, even after mass uptake reaches a plateau, structural changes continue to be observable in both fiber space and the pore space between fibers.

In addition, we also compared the differences between the incorporation via liquid phase and gas phase. The sequence of 3D-images from µCT were segmented by a neural network and further analyzed with a pore network model (PNM) to gain an even deeper understanding of the underlaying processes.