TiO<sub>2</sub>- Based Coating for Improving the Quality of Prints on Papers with Supplementary Barley Pulp

Abstract

Even though most information is digitized today, paper as a printing substrate is still essential. The quality of the paper depends on whether it has the properties required for its intended use, which will fundamentally rely on the raw materials used. Nowadays, the production of paper and board is increasingly focused on alternative non-wood raw materials. In this context, the main objective of this research is to improve the quality of prints on laboratory-made papers with supplementary barley pulp by coating the surface of the papers with titanium dioxide coating. Since laboratory-made papers were not subjected to the bleaching process and no additional surface treatments were used, TiO2-based coating proved to be one of the ways to improve the quality of the prints on such substrates. In this study, it was concluded that TiO2-based coating did not affect the colorimetric values of the black prints to the extent that it affected the colorimetric values of the magenta prints. However, density of printed inks was increased up to 14% for prints on laboratory-made papers with higher amount of barley pulp and TiO2-based coating in two layers.