Paper with increased stiffness and opacity, environmentally friendly, and suitable for creating documents written in Braille, has been developed by materials scientists from the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin in cooperation with Arctic Paper Kostrzyn.
The paper called Amber Terra was developed by a team of scientists under the supervision of Professor Ewa Mijowska, Head of the Department of Physical Chemistry and Nanomaterials at the Faculty of Chemical Technology and Engineering of the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin, and R&D experts from Arctic Paper Kostrzyn. The university announced the implementation of the project at the turn of the year.
Amber Terra can be used to produce books, notebooks, envelopes. The material can also be used to create documents written in dot script for the blind. 'Paper for writing in Braille must have better mechanical properties'," Mijowska said in an interview with PAP.
She emphasized that the production of the new paper uses 10-15 percent less natural raw material (cellulose fibres) than in the case of conventional technologies. 'On an industrial production scale, this is a huge profit', she added.
'It was an exemplary cooperation between science and industry', Mijowska assessed. 'We created this innovative product in a really short time, two or three years (...). Amber Terra is an smart material that demonstrates better mechanical properties than its conventional counterparts, and it is less transparent', she added.
She explained that the 'smartness' of Amber Terra consists in the fact that cellulose fibre, the basic building block of paper, captures more fillers while maintaining the expected parameters, including grammage.
'The fibre has been modified with polymer particles, i.e. linkers, connectors that improve the retention of more filler particles on its surface', Professor Ewa Mijowska described.
The project 'Development and implementation of technology for the production of high-quality graphic papers with increased opacity and bending stiffness with reduced share of wood fibres using a polymer crosslinker' was recognized by the Polish National Centre for Research and Development. It was awarded nearly PLN 16.4 million in funding from European funds.
The research team members also included Beata Zielińska, Phd, a professor at the West Pomeranian University of Technology, Karolina Wenelska, PhD, Klaudia Maślana, PhD, and Tomasz Kędzierski.
Professor Ewa Mijowska emphasized that the new paper is already being manufactured on an industrial scale in a factory in Kostrzyn nad Odrą (Lubuskie).
Arctic Paper Kostrzyn is the largest Polish manufacturer of offset paper, on which books, magazines, posters and labels are printed. (PAP)
PAP - Science in Poland
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Gallery (5 images)
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1/527.01.2025. Amber Terra - innovative paper created in cooperation between scientists from Faculty of Chemical Technology and Engineering of the West Pomeranian University of Technology and Arctic Paper, which combines ecology with the needs of the blind. Amber Terra is a paper with increased stiffness and opacity, which is also more environmentally friendly. Researchers used an innovative polymer crosslinker to reduce the amount of wood fibres. (ad) PAP/Marcin Bielecki -
2/527.01.2025. Amber Terra - innovative paper created in cooperation between scientists from Faculty of Chemical Technology and Engineering of the West Pomeranian University of Technology and Arctic Paper, which combines ecology with the needs of the blind. Amber Terra is a paper with increased stiffness and opacity, which is also more environmentally friendly. Researchers used an innovative polymer crosslinker to reduce the amount of wood fibres. (ad) PAP/Marcin Bielecki -
3/527.01.2025. Amber Terra - innovative paper created in cooperation between scientists from Faculty of Chemical Technology and Engineering of the West Pomeranian University of Technology and Arctic Paper, which combines ecology with the needs of the blind. Amber Terra is a paper with increased stiffness and opacity, which is also more environmentally friendly. Researchers used an innovative polymer crosslinker to reduce the amount of wood fibres. (ad) PAP/Marcin Bielecki -
4/527.01.2025. Amber Terra - innovative paper created in cooperation between scientists from Faculty of Chemical Technology and Engineering of the West Pomeranian University of Technology and Arctic Paper, which combines ecology with the needs of the blind. Amber Terra is a paper with increased stiffness and opacity, which is also more environmentally friendly. Researchers used an innovative polymer crosslinker to reduce the amount of wood fibres. (ad) PAP/Marcin Bielecki -
5/527.01.2025. Amber Terra - innovative paper created in cooperation between scientists from Faculty of Chemical Technology and Engineering of the West Pomeranian University of Technology and Arctic Paper, which combines ecology with the needs of the blind. Amber Terra is a paper with increased stiffness and opacity, which is also more environmentally friendly. Researchers used an innovative polymer crosslinker to reduce the amount of wood fibres. (ad) PAP/Marcin Bielecki
