Separation and analysis techniques for bound and unbound alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) in paper: A review

Alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) is the reactive synthetic sizing agent that is used in alkaline or neutral papermaking conditions to provide certain level of hydrophobicity to the paper and board. The sizing mechanism of AKD involves its reaction with the hydroxyl groups on cellulose. However, all of AKD does not chemically react with fibers; some of it may undergo hydrolysis in water to form unstable β-keto acids, which decarboxylate to the corresponding ketone. This portion of AKD remains non-reacted (unbound) and adsorbs onto fibers. The sizing effect depends mainly on the quantity of chemically reacted (bound) AKD in paper, while the role of unbound forms, that is ketone and oligomer, is still not clear. Both bound and unbound portions of AKD have their own effect on paper. It is important to know the proportion of bound and unbound form of AKD in paper. The different techniques have been adopted for the separation and analysis of bound and unbound AKD present in paper. The aim of this paper is to review and summarize the various techniques provided by the researchers to separate the different forms of AKD and highlight the most important aspects for their separation.