Without Ink, Scientist Print Writing with Light

Scientists find new method of printing on paper that is predicted much cheaper than regular printing methods. The reason, the method of printing on paper that is not currently using ink instead of light.

To achieve this, the research team developed a nanoparticle coatings specially easily applied on plain paper. This special layer of nanoparticles can change color when exposed to ultraviolet light (UV).

Upholstery new paper that found a team of researchers is derived from two types of nanoparticles are coupled is Prussian blue, and titanium dioxide (TiO2). Combined both these nano particles will produce a layer of blue total. The addition of UV light will make TiO2 particles react and release electrons that make pigment Prussian blue color faded. These methods were then scored the writing on the paper.

Interestingly, the color change could be back as usual if a layer of special nano particles is heated to a temperature of 120 degrees Celsius. Thus, this layer can be reused up to 80 times. The researchers say it will last printout on paper at least five days before finally starting to fade back to blue.

The paper coating can be quickly applied to plain paper by spraying the coating on the paper. Another way that can be done is by soaking the paper in this special coating. This coating will not make the texture or appearance of the paper is changed, the paper will still look the same as the conventional paper in general.

The team of researchers from the Americas can say that China's high-resolution printing technique can be used anywhere. The use of light also saves the cost of ink and paper, especially in business scale.

In addition to advantageous from an economic standpoint, these findings are also more environmentally friendly because waste from the paper quite a lot, in the United States for example, 40 percent of the waste coming from paper. On the other hand, saving paper by using a special coating is also expected to reduce the number of trees to be felled for paper supplies, which is about 68 million trees in the United States. "Our findings are believed to have enormous benefits for the economy and environment of modern society," said one of the researchers from the University of California, Yadong Yin, as reported by Science Alert.

This is not the first time that scientists utilize UV ​​light to print. However, previous findings with light printing techniques are not so easy to apply on plain paper. Therefore, the research team continually strive to make breakthroughs more easily applied in the printing process with light.

"Our next step is to create a laser printer that can work hand in hand with the paper that can be reprinted for enabling rapid printing process. We will also look for an effective method to enable full-color printing," said Yin.