Paper

Cellulose fibres and paper quality

Paper is made from cellulose fibres which are derived from plant sources. Alpha cellulose is very high-quality cellulose which contains no additives or impurities of any kind. It consists of long, ribbon-like molecules made up of smaller glucose units. The glucose units are formed from atoms of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. These molecules are held together side-to-side by hydrogen bonding to form 'sheets', which in turn are stacked together in tightly packed layers to form 'microfibrils'. The microfibrils group themselves in bundles; and groups of these bundles form the paper fibre.

All paper up until the 19th century was hand-made, primarily from cotton and linen rags and hemp, which produced papers of great strength and permanence. As the need for paper developed and the demand for raw materials outstripped supply, ground wood was introduced as a paper-making fibre. This resulted in the mass-production of papers which were weaker and less permanent.

Industry has developed ways of refining wood-based paper to raise their quality and longevity by isolating the cellulose in the wood from the resinous substances which make the paper acidic, that is the lignins. Today, acid-free wood-based papers are available—these papers contain a high percentage of alpha cellulose and have a permanency which is equal to cotton-based papers.