Alkyl Ketene Dimer

Uses

Alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) was industrialized in 1956 and was only used in special papers requiring heavy sizing. In recent years, cultural paper has been basically changed to AKD neutral sizing, making it more widely used. Applications.

Chemical Properties

Alkyl ketene dimer is a white flake solid, which is soluble in organic solvents such as ethanol, benzene, chloroform, etc. It has the ability to resist weak acid, weak alkali or other penetrants.

Synthesis

Alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) is a white solid, which can be synthesized by acylation and dehydrochlorination of higher fatty acids (C≥12).

Mode of action

Alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) is a water-insoluble solid with a melting temperature between 40 and 60 °C. It is a widely used neutral-sizing chemical in the papermaking industry, as the compound decreases the rate of aqueous liquid penetration into papers. The compound possesses one unsaturated β-lactone ring and 16–18 carbons of the alkyl groups. Its β-lactone ring can readily react with hydroxyl groups of cellulose to form a β-ketoester bond, enabling its hydrophobic tails to arrange into hydrophobic domains. In the presence of water, however, the reactivity of AKD with water is faster than with hydroxyl groups, generating dialkylketone with no or low internal sizing ability, i.e., the ability of additives to facilitate the water-resistant protection of a paper’s surface. Ordinary sizing with AKD involves a complex series of processes, including emulsification of the waxy AKD material; measures to avoid the agglomeration of the emulsified AKD particles; addition of a stabilized AKD dispersion to the papermaking furnish; interactions with various retention aid chemicals to fix the material onto solid surfaces; and various spreading and curing processes that take place during the drying and cooling of the paper product[1-2].

References

[1] Chariya Kaewsaneha and Pakorn Opaprakasit*. “Preparation of Water-Based Alkyl Ketene Dimer (AKD) Nanoparticles and Their Use in Superhydrophobic Treatments of Value-Added Teakwood Products.” ACS Omega 7 31 (2022): 27400–27409.
[2] Sunil Kumar, Swapan K. Chakrabarti, Vipul S. Chauhan. “Separation and analysis techniques for bound and unbound alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) in paper: A review.” Arabian Journal of Chemistry 9 (2016): Pages S1636-S1642.