Title
Investigating the environmental impact of pyrolysis volatiles of printing paper under a nitrogen atmosphere
Authors
LE PAN JINXIANG CHEN CHUNFENG WAN HAO REN HUAMIN ZHAI and JINGJING ZHENG

Received November 26, 2013
Published Volume 49 Issue 9-10 October-December
Keywords eco-printing, printing paper, pyrolysis volatiles, environmental impact, G/MS

Abstract
The volatiles and environmental impact from the pyrolysis of printing paper at different temperatures were investigated using pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-G/MS) and scanning electron microscopy. There were 16 possible types of volatile matter present in the pyrolysis temperature range of 300 °C to 700 °C under a nitrogen atmosphere. A few of these volatiles were moderately toxic, but none was highly toxic or carcinogenic. The degree of carbonization with heat-induced inkless eco-printing (HIEP) was weaker than that with pyrolysis. Therefore, although HIEP produced small amounts of toxic substances, their quantities were low and could be controlled by optimizing the process conditions. Consequently, HIEP was found to be an ecologically and environmentally acceptable technology.