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• Wood is still the most widely used raw material for pulp and paper production in the world

aPaper performance qualities strongly depend on the origin of cellulose fibers. Awareness of environmental issues and sustainable development has led to the increase in the use of recycled printing papers. Recovered fibers are often used as a substitute for virgin wood fibers in the production of certain types of papers. As recovered fibers cannot provide the same quality level of paper products as virgin wood fibers, alternative sources of virgin cellulose fibers need to be identified. The aim of this research was to analyze the printability of laboratory papers made of different contents of straw pulp. Therefore, the printing papers were formed using straw pulp of three different cereal species (wheat, barley, and triticale) and mixing them with recycled newsprint in different weight ratios. The printability of these laboratory papers was analyzed by classifying dot reproduction quality based on four dot reproduction attributes. Printed dot reproduction greatly affects the quality of reproduction in graphic products, as dots are the most important element in multi-color reproduction of texts and images. It was confirmed that laboratory papers containing straw pulp provide the same or even better dot reproduction quality than laboratory control papers formed only of recycled newsprint.

AbstractToday, the paper industry is faced with a global deficiency of raw wood materials, so alternative sources of virgin cellulose fibres are playing an important role in paper production. Agricultural countries produce large quantities of crop farming by-products such as straw, which is an interesting alternative raw material for cellulose fibres. Straw is used in many industries because of its numerous advantages: animal food industry, biofuel industry, construction industry and as artistic material. The potential use of straw production residues is of great importance in paper and printing industry. The focus of this research is on triticale straw, which was used as a non-wood fibre source for paper production. Namely, triticale straw was converted into semi-chemical pulp and was combined with recycled wood pulp in order to produce alternative laboratory papers. The usability of this kind of laboratory papers in printing industry was analysed based on line reproduction quality. This research evaluated and analysed line reproduction quality based on four line attributes: width, blurriness and raggedness. The results of this research proved that triticale pulp in laboratory papers has equal influence on line printing quality as the recycled wood pulp.

This research observes changes in the properties of commercially available hemp office papers exposed to photo-oxidation for artificial aging. In order to accelerate the changes that naturally occur in paper, photo-oxidation was performed using a Xenon light source. The electromagnetic radiation was administered in doses of 550 W/m 2 over 24 hours with a temperature of 60°C. Three types of hemp office papers that differ in chemical composition and manufacturing process were used as samples. The strength properties (tensile index, elongation at break, tear index), surface properties (Bendtsen roughness, Bekk smoothness), pH of paper extracts, and optical properties were observed. The listed properties of artificially aged samples were compared to those of unaged commercial paper samples. The results show that, after only 24 hours, accelerated aging with a Xenon arc lamp affects all observed paper properties. For all analyzed office papers, the values of the tensile index, Bekk smoothness, and pH of paper extracts decreased, while the values of elongation break, tear index, and Bendtsen roughness increased due accelerated aging. Regarding the CIE L*a*b* color space value, lightness (L*) generally decreased after the aging treatment, and all paper samples became less reddish (a* decreased) and more yellow (b* increased). The obtained results of this research reveal that pulp with hemp fibers can produce higher-quality office paper that is more stable against light and temperature influences than those made with post-consumer fibers. However, to increase the durability of manufactured paper, hemp fibers must be bleached.

This study was undertaken to investigate the suitability of applying the conventional method of chemical deinking flotation of digital offset prints and ecological implications of the disposal of digital offset prints, with special emphasis on the content of heavy metal cations. The EDXRF method was used to determine the concentrations of Pb, Zr, Sr, As, Co, Zn, Cu, Ni, Fe, Mn, Cr, V, Ti, Ca, and K cations in handsheet ashes after flotation as well as in ashes of foams separated from cellulose suspension in the flotation phase. The same method was applied to determine the concentrations of Pb, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Co in process water filtrates obtained from the cellulose suspension after flotation and in foam filtrates. Centrifuging and coagulation previously treated flotation process water, while foam filtrates were centrifuged. Concentrations of Pb, As, Sr, Zr, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Cu, and Zn were determined in the sediments obtained by centrifuging process water. The trials were done with unprinted substrates without deinking chemicals, with unprinted substrates in the presence of deinking chemicals and with printed substrates in the presence of deinking chemicals. Cation analysis revealed that deinking chemicals facilitate release of cations from the substrate and their transition into process water. Concentrations of most cations in the flotation process water, in foam water as well as in the sediment of the process water of printed substrate flotation deinking were lower than those obtained by flotation of unprinted substrate suspension. Polymer particles of ElectroInk incompletely separated from cellulose fibers prevent release of cations from cellulose fibers into process water. Deinking chemicals do not affect release of cations from ElectroInk particles, so the substrate is the main source of increased concentration of cations in the water of digital offset print deinking. The major part of cations in process water is bound to the colloid particles of the filler (CaCO3) released by substrate disintegration and to particles of fine fibers.

This research observes alteration in optical properties of two commercially available hemp office papers exposed to various methods of accelerated ageing. Both handmade office papers, natural colored and non-chlorine bleached were formed from 100% hemp plant fiber. In order to establish their optical stability under controlled conditions two different accelerating ageing treatments were carried out for the period of 24 hours as a simulation of different degradation processes that naturally occurs in cellulosic materials: thermal oxidation (TO) and photo-oxidation (PO). Before and after ageing treatments the changes in the optical properties of papers were monitored by X-rite DTP 20 spectrophotometer and obtained differences in Reflectance index (R), Euclidean difference (ΔE00*) and Yellowness Index (YI E313) have been discussed. The results have shown how the paper optical stability is dependent upon manufacturing process. Namely, it was found that bleached hemp pulp provide better optical stability of papers than unbleached hemp pulp.

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