TITLE:
New Silica Coating Pigment for Inkjet Papers from Mining Industry Sidestreams
AUTHORS:
Taina Lamminmäki, Eija Kenttä, Hille Rautkoski, John Bachér, Sebastian Teir, John Kettle, Juha Sarlin
KEYWORDS:
Silica; Coating Pigment; Inkjet Printing; Print Quality; Ink Penetration; Ionic Charge; Dye Transfer Process
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Surface Engineered Materials and Advanced Technology,
Vol.3 No.3,
July
12,
2013
ABSTRACT: Silica is commonly used as an
ingredient in the coatings of inkjet papers because of its capability to
provide a coating layer structure combining a high pore volume, into which all
the applied inkjet ink can transfer, and a suitable pore size distribution for
very quick ink absorption. Nowadays, the production of silica pigment is quite
expensive, and therefore, it would be advantageous to find a cheaper raw
material source. In this study, the raw material was Greek olivine from
magnesite mine sidestreams. The silica pigment was produced at laboratory scale
by using nitric acid as a solvent. The target of this work was to clarify how
this produced silica pigment is suited for inkjet coating pigments. The coating
colors were applied by a laboratory rod coater on fine base paper and white-top
kraftliner, and the coated surfaces were printed with a home and office area
inkjet printer. The results showed that the produced olivine-based silica
pigment has a potential in matt inkjet coatings. The coating of the produced
silica pigment increased the print density, decreased the print-through, and
diminished the bleeding of fine paper and white-top kraftliner board. However,
further development work is needed to improve the pigment brightness to a more
acceptable level, and to control the particle size at the nitric acid
dissolution.