Application of UV-Vis and resonance Raman spectroscopy to study bleaching and photoyellowing of thermomechanical pulps

The chemistry of thermomechanical pulp bleaching and brightness reversion was studied. First, UV-Vis reflectance spectroscopy was used to obtain information on the reactive structures in pulp. Based on these data, a Raman excitation wavelength was chosen close to the absorption bands of the chromophores formed to take advantage of the resonance enhancement (resonance Raman spectroscopy). Fluorescence was rejected with a picosecond Kerr gate. The results revealed that coniferyl aldehyde structures were partly removed by alkaline peroxide bleaching and these structures were further degraded during light exposure. However, this reaction was obviously not responsible for chromophore formation in the pulp. On the other hand, based on the resonance Raman spectra, formation of quinonoid structures, possibly para-quinones, was a more prominent explanation for the brightness reversion.