Controlling unequal surface energy results caused by test liquids: the case of UV/O3 Treated PET.

Ultraviolet/ozone (UV/O3) treatment has been reported to be an effective method to modify properties such as wettability, adhesion or adsorption of plastic surfaces. The change in the surface is measured by contact angle analysis, which employs liquids and their surface tensions (ST) to estimate the surface energy (SE). We found two different practices in the scientific community: (1) the majority of researchers adopted the ST value of liquids from the literature, while (2) other researchers conducted real-time measurements in the lab under ambient conditions prior to SE estimation. To the best of our knowledge, there is no study that compares the difference between the two practices. One study was found to show different SE methods generating unequal SE values for the same substrate. However, there was no definitive conclusion backed by general thermodynamics rules. In this study, we presented (1) a statistical significance test that showed the literature and experimental ST values are significantly different, and studied (2) the effect of different liquid pairs on the SE estimation for UV/O3 treated poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) substrate. Modification techniques such as atmospheric pressure plasma or chemical modification were studied previously to examine PET's wettability and the SE. The UV/O3 treatment was studied to improve adhesion and to modify its chemical properties for adsorption. In contrast, we studied (3) the effect of UV/O3 on wettability at different timeframes and addressed (4) how to control unequal SE based on a method that was refined on a rigorous thermodynamic three-phase system. It must be noted that this method can be generalized to other types of solid surfaces to estimate thermodynamically self-consistent SE values. This work also provides (5) a web-based calculator that complements computational findings available to the readership in the data availability section.

The examination of vegetable- and mineral oil-based inks' effects on print quality: Green printing effects with different oils.

INTRODUCTION: Printing inks oil selection is related to the desired nature of the varnish in the ink production. Petroleum-derived mineral oils and vegetable oils can be used in offset inks. METHODS: In this study, the behaviors of vegetable- and mineral oil-based inks on uncoated and coated paper surfaces were investigated in terms of printability. Solid tone test prints were done with offset printing of these inks. Print gloss of the printed samples was measured and a light fastness test was implemented on these samples in order to determine the resistance to fading. Absorption behavior and contact angles of the ink-printed films on the test papers were measured with the sessile water drop method depending on time, and surface energies were calculated. RESULTS: On both paper types, linseed-soybean oil-based vegetable ink gave the highest brightness value. The lowest print gloss results on the paper were obtained from soybean oil-based inks. The lowest color change was recorded with mineral oil-based inks on gloss-coated papers. According to the ink-film-surface relation, when the contact angle is high, surface energy decreases and the absorbency of the ink-film is lower. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the behaviors of vegetable- and mineral oil-based inks on different paper surfaces, and the effect on the quality of printability as well as differences, have been evaluated, taking environmental and health factors into consideration.

Printability of papers recycled from toner and inkjet-printed papers after deinking and recycling processes.

BACKGROUND: In our contemporary world, while part of the fibers used in the paper industry is obtained from primary fibers such as wood and agricultural plants, the rest is obtained from secondary fibers from waste papers. To manufacture paper with high optical quality from fibers of recycled waste papers, these papers require deinking and bleaching of fibers at desired levels. High efficiency in removal of ink from paper mass during recycling, and hence deinkability, are especially crucial for the optical and printability quality of the ultimate manufactured paper. METHODS: In the present study, deinkability and printability performance of digitally printed paper with toner or inkjet ink were compared for the postrecycling product. To that end, opaque 80 g/m2 office paper was digitally printed under standard printing conditions with laser toner or inkjet ink; then these sheets of paper were deinked by a deinking process based on the INGEDE method 11 p. After the deinking operation, the optical properties of the obtained recycled handsheets were compared with unprinted (reference) paper. Then the recycled paper was printed on once again under the same conditions as before with inkjet and laser printers, to monitor and measure printing color change before and after recycling, and differences in color universe. RESULTS: Recycling and printing performances of water-based inkjet and toner-based laser printed paper were obtained. The outcomes for laser-printed recycled paper were better than those for inkjet-printed recycled paper. CONCLUSIONS: Compared for luminosity Y, brightness, CIE a* and CIE b* values, paper recycled from laser-printed paper exhibited higher value than paper recycled from inkjet-printed paper.