THE EFFECT OF TRANSITION METAL IONS-IRON ON HYDROGEN PEROXIDE BLEACHING

Hydrogen peroxide bleaching has been extensivelyused in high-yield pulp bleaching. Unfortunately,hydrogen peroxide can be decomposed underalkaline condition, especially when transition metalions exit. Experiments show that the valence oftransition metal ion is also responsible for thedecomposition of hydrogen peroxide.Iron ions are present in two oxidation states, Fe2+ andFe3+. They are both catalytically active to hydrogenperoxide decomposition. Because Fe3+ is brown, itcan affect the brightness of pulp directly, it can alsocombine with phenol, forming complexes which notonly are stable structures and are difficult to beremoved from pulp, but also significantly affect thebrightness of pulp because of their color.Sodium silicate and magnesium sulfate, when usedtogether, can greatly decrease hydrogen peroxidedecomposition. The optimum dosage of sodiumsilicate is about 0.1% (on solution) for Fe2~ and0.25% (on solution) for Fe3~. Adding chelants such asDTPA or EDTA with stabilizers simultaneously canobviously improve pulp brightness. For iron ions, thechelate effect of DTPA is better than that of EDTA.Under acidic conditions, sodium hyposulfite andcellulose can reduce Fe3+ to Fez+ effectively, and pulpbrightness is improved greatly. Adding sodiumthiosulfate simultaneously with magnesium sulfate,sodium silicate, and DTPA to alkaline peroxidesolution can result in higher brightness of pulp.pH is a key parameter during hydrogen peroxidebleaching, the optimum pH value should be 10.5-12.

Hydrogen peroxide bleaching has been extensively used in high-yield pulp bleaching. Unfortunately, hydrogen peroxide can be decomposed under alkaline condition, especially when transition metal ions exit. Experiments show that the valence of transition metal ion is also responsible for the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide.Iron ions are present in two oxidation states, Fe2+ and Fe3+. They are both catalytically active to hydrogen peroxide decomposition. Because Fe3+ is brown, it can affect the brightness of pulp directly, it can also combine with phenol, forming complexes which not only are stable structures and are difficult to be removed from pulp, but also significantly affect the brightness of pulp because of their color.Sodium silicate and magnesium sulfate, when used together, can greatly decrease hydrogen peroxide decomposition. The optimum dosage of sodium silicate is about 0.1% (on solution) for Fe2+ and 0.25% (on solution) for Fe3+. Adding chelants such as DTPA or EDTA with stabilizers simultaneously can obviously improve pulp brightness. For iron ions, the chelate effect of DTPA is better than that of EDTA. Under acidic conditions, sodium hyposulfite and cellulose can reduce Fe3+ to Fe2+ effectively, and pulp brightness is improved greatly. Adding sodium thiosulfate simultaneously with magnesium sulfate, sodium silicate, and DTPA to alkaline peroxide solution can result in higher brightness of pulp.pH is a key parameter during hydrogen peroxide bleaching, the optimum pH value should be 10.5-12.