Critical comparison of methods for surface coverage by extractives and lignin in pulps by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)

Different methods for estimation of the surface coverage by extractives and lignin were critically compared. For data collection, four state-of-the-art X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) instruments located in four different laboratories were used. Hand sheets of one mechanical and two chemical pulp samples were prepared in one laboratory and distributed among the other participants. The XPS results based on O/C ratios and curve fitting of the C 1s peak had very good intra- and interlaboratory variation for extracted and non-extracted pulp samples. The estimations of surface coverage by extractives and lignin also had acceptable intra- and interlaboratory variation. However, significant differences were observed between the results for the various methods. Estimation of surface coverage by extractives based on O/C ratios was much higher than that based on the C1 component analysis in the case of mechanical and unbleached chemical pulp. The surface coverage by lignin of mechanical pulp was reproducibly detected based on O/C ratios, C1 component analysis and by labelling with mercury acetate. The same data were, however, rather scattered if they were collected with these three methods for bleached and unbleached chemical pulp. In spite of the differences, similar trends regarding the pulp type could be observed. We interpret the results as indicating that the surface coverage for both extractives and lignin should not be considered as absolute "true'' values, but rather as relative values, which are reliable only for comparison of samples for the same instrument. Even for relative comparisons, we recommend the selection of a strict experimental set-up for spectral acquisition and data treatment when applying any of the instruments and calculation models currently available.