Absorbent articles comprising thermoplastic resin pretreated fibers

Abstract

One embodiment of the present invention is a fibrous structure that may comprise: cellulosic pulp fibers and pretreated cellulosic pulp fibers. The pretreated cellulosic pulp fiber is formed by pretreating cellulosic pulp fiber with a thermoplastic resin having a property selected from the group consisting essentially of water soluble, water dispersible, and combinations thereof.

Description

BACKGROUND [0001] This disclosure relates to tissue products comprising thermoplastic resin pretreated pulp fibers. [0002] Cellulosic fibers made from wood pulp are used in a variety of tissue products, for example, facial tissue, bath tissue, paper towels, dinner napkins, wipes, and the like. It is known in the art to prepare such tissue products comprising natural wood pulp fibers, synthetic polymeric fibers, and combinations of natural wood pulp fibers and synthetic polymeric fibers to impart high dry and wet strength characteristics to the article. [0003] Fibrous tissue webs having high strength and stretch are useful for many applications as they provide the user security that the tissue product will remain intact during use. Dry strength additives may be used such as starches or polyarcylamides. Unfortunately, use of these additives increase the strength of fibrous tissue webs but do not increase the stretch of the tissue product. [0004] It is known that increased tensile stre...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0016] There, however, remains a need for tissue products having desired dry and wet strength, stretch, and modulus of elasticity characteristics. It is also desirable to have tissue products that may be easily dispersed to allow repulping.

Problems solved by technology

Unfortunately, use of these additives increase the strength of fibrous tissue webs but do not increase the stretch of the tissue product.

However, one may need to use chlorine in order to remove the resin and recycle or repulp tissue products containing pulp fibers treated with the resin, which presents environmental problems.

Cationic resins, as wet strength agents, may have other disadvantages, such as reacting with other anionic additives which may be added to the fibrous tissue web and, in many cases, increasing the dry strength of the fibrous tissue web as well, resulting in a less soft tissue product.

Moreover, the effectiveness of cationic wet strength agents may be limited by low retention of the wet strength agent on the cellulose pulp fiber.

The cost associated with producing pulp fibers crosslinked with dialdehyde crosslinking agents, such as glutaraldehyde, may be too high to result in commercially viable tissue products.

An additional disadvantage of using papermaking chemical additives, such as wet strength agents, is that at least a portion of the chemical additives are lost in pulping and / or repulping operations.

Thus, while the virgin tissue product may be hydrophilic, use of an emulsion of a thermoplastic resin containing high levels of a chemical additive may result in a finished tissue product having unacceptable hydrophobicity due to loss of the chemical additive.