Elastomer surface energy modification applying oxygen and nitrogen plasma treatment with laser deactivation of the surface

Cilj doktorske teze je istraživanje površinske slobodne energije, hrapavosti i drugih svojstva površine NBR i EPDM ofsetnih “gumenih navlaka“, funkcionalizacija površinskih svojstva obradom pomoću kisikove i dušikove plazme te defunkcionalizacija površine primjenom IR i UV lasera. Karakterizacija površinske slobodne energije mjerenjem kontaktnog kuta primjenom testnih tekućina sa različitom površinskom napetošću i polarnošću, SEM (skenirna elektronska mikroskopija), XPS (spektroskopija rendgenskim zrakama) i analiza hrapavosti ispitivanih elastomera i njihovih komponenti, daje kvantitativni opis za plazmu specifičnih površinskih funkcionalnih grupa, koje su u korelaciji s površinskom energijom, polarnošću i drugim površinskim svojstvima spomenutih materijala, tako da se mogu procijeniti promjene adsorpcijskog potencijala, odnosno njegova hidrofilna/oleofobna ili hidrofobna/ oleofilna svojstva. Kemijska analiza površine elastomera (“gumene navlake“) nakon obrade plazmom i laserom, u usporedbi sa neobrađenim uzorcima, pokazuje velike promjene samo kod sumpora, koji je korišten za vulkanizaciju. Druge, manje vidljive promjene u kemijskoj strukturi nastale su zbog kemijskih reakcija čestica plazme sa silika punilom ili sa dodacima, radije nego sa osnovnom makromolekularnom strukturom elastomera. Kod nevulkanizirane sirove gume nema vidljivih kemijskih promjena nakon obrade kisikovom plazmom ili UV laserom, uz istovremene značajne promjene površinske slobodne energije i polarnosti. Kod sirove gume promjene su uzrokovane promjenom makromolekularne strukture površine. “Gumena navlaka“ dobro je poznati medij za prijenos tiskarske boje u ofsetnom i drugim konvencionalnim i digitalnim tiskarskim tehnikama, gdje djeluje kao sekundarna tiskovna forma. Zapisivanje na površinu “gumene navlake“ pomoču obrade plazmom i laserom za selektivnu defunkcionalizaciju, otvara nove mogučnosti u njezinoj upotrebi o ulogi nosioca slike u tiskovnom procesu i time novi izazov za buduča istraživanja

Special Issue: Audience, design, technology and business factors in new media innovation

The print and media industries have been going through significant and prolonged change in recent years due to the digitization of media content. As with many innovations, the earliest phase of change involved a kind of replication of existing services with new technological processes. Hence the replacement of analogue with digital printing machines simply allowed print media to be produced more flexibly and efficiently. This resembled the motorized carriage design of early cars, echoing the horse drawn carriages they were replacing. More recently, print itself is being threatened by screen-displayed content, which can not only reproduce the printed word and image, but go beyond this by packaging multiple pages in a highly portable and convenient e-book form, providing instant access to multiple sources of web-based content, and integrating other media such as sound, video and interactive games. Similar things could be said about the digital broadcasting of radio and TV content, which is now ready for more radical integration with paper and the web. In this special issue, we examine some of the factors involved in new media innovation within this context of media digitization and convergence. In particular, we consider the future of print media in relation to screen-based media, and some possibilities for combining them in different ways. The papers were invited from presentations at the IARIGAI 2015 conference on Advances in Printing and Media Technology in Helsinki from the 6th–9th September last year. Furthermore, four out of the five papers were submissions from members of the EU COST network FP1104 on ‘New possibilities for print and packaging: Combining print and digital’. The non-FP1104 paper was a related keynote paper on digitization and service business model innovation by Viljakainen, Toivonen & Seisto. The COST network is comprised of 140 academic and company members from 29 countries across Europe, and has been meeting for four years to share and generate new research on augmented print and packaging: http://www.cost.eu/COST_Actions/fps/FP1104. It also held the Paper Evolutions exhibition of new product concepts in the area at the IARIGAI 2015 conference (Seisto et al., 2015). The selected papers are a small window on the discussions of the network regarding the future of paper, and the need to think about its innovation from an interdisciplinary point of view

Efficient paper recycling

Used paper and paper products are important raw material for paper and board industry. Paper recycling increases the material lifespan and is a key strategy that contributes to savings of primary raw material, reduction of energy and chemicals consumption, reduction of the impact on fresh water and improvement of waste management strategies. The paper recycling rate is still highly inhomogeneous among the countries of Central Europe. Since recovered paper is not only recycled in the country where it has been produced and consumed, some essential features such as eco-design and eco-collection concepts must be developed at transnational level to increase the sustainability of the paper loop. The project EcoPaperLoop addresses these needs of the regions related to paper recycling by creating a clear picture on participating region’s status, by enhancing the awareness about recyclability issues as well as by improving and sharing the collective knowledge base on available technologies and practices. To put paper recycling, in terms of yield and quality, into optimum practice all across Europe, however, appropriate paper recycling strategies are of utmost importance. In present paper some findings about paper recyclability, paper recycling strategies and legislation issues will be presented

Dot shape and legibility analysis of multilayer UV ink-jet printed Braille text

Multilayer UV ink-jet is recognized as alternative printing technology to traditional embossing, thermo-forming, screen-printing and other Braille printing techniques. Advantages of multilayer printing are extensive possibilities of dot shape and dot height modulation according to the requirements of blind and visually impaired people associations and legislation. Braille used for the pharmaceutical packaging is prescribed according to EU Directive 2004/27/EC, cell and dot dimensions are specified in the Standard EN 15823, in other fields there are only recommendations and specifications in force. Braille is usually adapted to different users, languages, scope, media, and printing processes. A set of samples with different Braille text sizes using conventional rounded dot shape and alternative dot shapes with additional small raised dot over basic dot, dots with incision and other dot shapes were prepared using multilayer UV ink-jet printing technique. Cell and dot dimensions and shape profile were obtained using different profile-meters and image analysis techniques. Legibility test has been carried out at the „Zavod za slepo in slabovidno mladino Ljubljana“ (Centre to help blind and partially sighted persons) and with the help of other blind people of all ages and Braille skills. It is evident from the results that the successful reading of the blind is greatly dependent on the shape and height of the dots of Braille. A survey on their answers and their comments gave us important information and directions for further research