NEAR FIELD EFFECT TONERS FOR IMPROVED DEINKING PERFORMANCE

Paper recycling continues to increase in the United States, with public support and legislative mandates helping boost recycling of all paper grades. Office waste paper is a significant source of high grade paper fiber for recycling, but is currently underutilized, due to the challenges of fully removing xerographic and laser printer toner. These so called *laser inks* are designed to fuse to the page during printing and tend to resist removal by conventional deinking processes. In a Phase I SBIR grant, AVEKA Inc. proposed the development of novel toners that would improve office paper deinking performance by reformulating the toner. The Phase I results indicate that toner deinking can be improved, in some cases dramatically, with this approach, which targets the active components directly to the toner-fiber interface. This *Near Field Effect* targeting improves deinking while minimizing additives already used by the recycling industry.