California chemists develop rewritable paper
California chemists develop rewritable paper
If that sounds wasteful, that's because it is. It's waste that contributes to deforestation and all types of pollution. And it's waste that chemists at the University of California, Riverside say could be prevented (or at least lessened) with the advent of "rewritable paper." Researchers there have developed such a thing.
The novel product has been successfully fabricated in the school's labs. The paper doesn't require ink, but instead uses ultraviolet light to stain letters onto a plastic film of light-reactive chemicals known as redox dyes. The ultraviolet light photobleaches the negative space on the film, reducing most of the dye to its colorless state and leaving only the letters and images behind.
The film paper can be returned to its fully saturated color state with just a simpe heating. Each piece can be erased and written on again twenty or more times with no compromise in contrast resolution.
According to environmental advocacy group Forest Ethics, North America is still the number one paper consumer on Earth, using nearly 500 pounds of paper per capita annually. With demand for paper on the rise in much of the world, paper production is expected to account for nearly half of all logging in the near future. Rewritable paper has the potential to reverse these trends.
"This rewritable paper does not require additional inks for printing, making it both economically and environmentally viable," Yadong Yin, a professor of chemistry who oversaw the lab work, explained in a press release . "It represents an attractive alternative to regular paper in meeting the increasing global needs for sustainability and environmental conservation."
"The printed letters remain legible with high resolution at ambient conditions for more than three days -- long enough for practical applications such as reading newspapers," Yin added. "Better still, our rewritable paper is simple to make, has low production cost, low toxicity and low energy consumption."
The work of Yin and his colleagues -- which was conducted with the help of grant funding from the Department of Energy -- was detailed this week in the journal Nature Communications .
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"Better still, our rewritable paper is simple to make, has low production cost, low toxicity and low energy consumption." This is awesome !
I have always been conscious of the tremendous loss of trees due to the need for paper. I often ask my students what they think the future, say, 50 years from now will bring due to that loss. Most feel, as I do, that the new iphones combined with ereaders will greatly reduce the need for newspapers and paper books.
But, out of curiosity, are the scientists working on inventing reusable toilet paper?
But, out of curiosity, are the scientists working on inventing reusable toilet paper?
umm....I hope not!!
Good thoughts!!
Last Wills and Testaments also must be preserved in the original form, so they are often stored in safety deposit boxes.
I'm curious about how many trees are cut down annually to produce pencils.
Max.....LOL
A lot!!
I didn't think about that Buzz!
Interesting!
We've come a long way from the old onion skin of days of yore...
That's for sure.
The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp. Easy to grow doesn't get you high, but has many uses, one of them producing paper. The lumber companies didn't like that, so there goes the trees.
Hemp has multiple uses, grows like a weed through thick and thin, is indestructible, can be used to make paper, strong cloth bags, rope, clothing, etc etc etc.
The tobacco farmers are crying, and hemp is the perfect crop to replace tobacco, but the government won't let anyone grow it.
The growing of hemp is a huge issue for our farmers here in KY. It makes sense to grow it and use it to make stuff-- so, naturally, we can't.
The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp. I didn't know that..
I knew hemp was used for purses etc, but I didn't know it grew like a weed...thanks for the info.
My reply disappeared....I didn't know the Declaration was written on hemp...I learned something..thanks!
Go figure...