Katriina Mielonen

Ink jet printers have been used especially in the Small Office and Home Office market (SOHO), but during recent years entering the production printing market such as packaging, label, transpromo and graphical printing. However, the lack of suitable low cost substrates for inkjet is one of the challenges and reasons why these printers are not yet more widely used. The composition of ink has developed, but there is still need for specialty paper. Improved source efficiency and sustainability are of essential importance to provide a more environmental friendly solution both in terms of recycling, less raw material usage, and reduced logistic.
The paper surface composition has a significant impact on print quality and it has been demonstrated in previous works that surface modification of the paper can significantly reduce the required ink amount and make print more durable and more environmental friendly. However, the current paper surface development is usually limited to the manufacturing technology and unfortunately this is also affecting the fundamental research on ink-substrate interaction. The objective of this research is to develop a new multilayering coating concept in order to investigate different thin coatings and in order to gain more understanding about ink-fiber based substrate interaction.