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Paper is a material that is used in many areas of everyday life. The development of paper with special and environmentally friendly properties will contribute to it being used differently than before. In this work, we present a simple, fluorine-free and low-cost method to prepare a multifunctional paper coating with TiO2 nanoparticles modified with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (KH550) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The effects of the content of precursors such as titanium isopropoxide (TTIP) and PDMS on the wettability, microstructure and durability of the coating were investigated. The result showed that the coated paper exhibited excellent superhydrophobicity and self-cleaning properties with a water contact angle (WCA) of 162.7° and a water sliding angle (WSA) of 2.5°. In addition, the coated paper showed excellent oil/water separation with over 98% after 10 test cycles and high mechanical resistance with an abrasion resistance of 0.26% weight loss after 20 abrasion cycles using the Taber abrasion test (ASTM D4060) with wheel type CS-10. The results of this study indicate a possible method for producing fluorine-free multifunctional paper, which has the potential to expand the application versatility of the material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving paper characteristics through natural and cost-effective fillers is a massive issue in the paper industry. In the process of manufacturing paper, inorganic and organic fillers are utilized. Organic fillers are only appropriate for specific applications, and their expensive cost has limited their use. Here, various concentrations of sugarcane press mud (SPM) waste were applied to obtain pure calcium oxide nanoparticles (CaONPs) after the calcination to use as a potential filler in the papermaking by mixing the CaONPs at various ratios (5, 10, 15, and 20%), and paper properties have been investigated. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) were utilized to characterize the CaONPs produced. The finding reveals that the influence of nano CaO fillers filled at different ratios (5, 10, 15, and 20%) on tensile, tear index, porosity, and smoothness was slowly decreased when increasing the content of nano filler to 35.9, 55.0, 565.7, and 260.3 at (0%) decrease to 30.7, 42.4, 381.6, and 188.4 at (20%), respectively. Also, opacity and brightness were increased from 93.0 and 71.7 at (0%) to 99.0 and 72.3 at (20%), respectively. The previous results revealed that the CaONPs at (20%) represent the optimal owing to the small particle size of CaONPs is satisfactory for provoking the prosperities of paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sensitizers are used to prepare photosensitive materials for ink-printing and thermal-recording media. Typical sensitizers contain an aromatic ring and exhibit aryl hydrocarbon receptor-mediated activity. They can accumulate in aquatic biota, leading to the disruption of ecosystems. Effluent from paper recycling plants has been identified as a source of contamination, and the presence of sensitizers in toilet paper may represent a new source of contamination in aquatic environments. To examine possible sources of contamination by sensitizers, this study investigated the levels of sensitizers in recycled toilet paper. We also studied the prevalence of sensitizers in rivers receiving effluents from sewage treatment plants in Japan, from 2020 to 2022. We detected eight sensitizers and related compounds in both toilet paper and river water samples; their total concentrations ranged from 0.78 to 34 µg/g (mean: 12 µg/g) in toilet paper and 58–1167 µg/L (median: 77 µg/L) in water. In the water samples, sensitizers were partitioned between liquid and suspended solid phases, and in suspended solids, sensitizers accounted for an average of 42% of the total. Correlation analysis showed a high correlation between sensitizer composition in the water from a river receiving sewage treatment plant effluents and toilet paper. Since these compounds were also detected in the river water analyzed in this study, toilet paper should be considered a novel source of sensitizers contamination in sewage treatment systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Holocellulose fibers provide great potential to make paper with high performance. However, inappropriate reaction conditions may limit its improvement in paper performance due to the lack of sufficient research data. In this work, paper is prepared from the birch holocellulose fibers based on peracetic acid treatment and the papermaking process. The features of resulting holocellulose fibers are evaluated for different peracetic acid treatment conditions such as temperature and time. It reveals that high temperature and long treatment time lead to the degradation of hemicellulose/cellulose and the destruction of fibers, which further results in the poor mechanical performance of paper. By optimization for the treatment condition of holocellulose fibers, the corresponding paper exhibits the highest tensile strength (93 MPa), good bursting strength (601 kPa), and tearing strength (647 mN). The determination of optimum conditions will provide guidelines for the industrial production of holocellulose fibers and paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comparative study of the supramolecular structure, physicochemical properties, and morphology of the powder celluloses (PCs) obtained from the waste paper of newsprint and cardboard, plant celluloses, and nonconventional raw materials was conducted using the methods of FT-IR spectroscopy, high-resolution solid-state 13C NMR spectroscopy, wide-angle X-ray scattering, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). According to the FT-IR and 13C NMR spectroscopy results, the functional composition of the PCs is similar to that of the wood PCs and matches highly purified cellulose samples. The crystallographic structure of the powder samples corresponds to the structure of cellulose I. The crystallinity and the transverse dimensions of the crystallites are 39.4 and 40.2%, and 45 Å [110] and 54 Å [110], for the PCs from newsprint paper and cardboard, respectively. These values considerably exceed those for the initial waste paper samples. A comparative analysis of the SEM results showed a significant similarity among the PC fibers of different origin. The results of the study of the physicochemical properties of the PCs isolated from the waste paper allow predicting their competitive application in comparison with plant PCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic development of a country directly depends upon industries. But this economic development should not be at the cost of our natural environment. A substantial amount of water is spent during paper production, creating water scarcity and generating wastewater. Therefore, the Pollution Control Board classifies this industry into red category. Water is used in different papermaking stages such as debarking, pulping or bleaching, washing, and finishing. The wastewater thus generated contains lignin and xenobiotic compounds such as resin acids, chlorinated lignin, phenols, furans, dioxins, chlorophenols, adsorbable organic halogens (AOX), extractable organic halogens (EOCs), polychlorinated biphenyls, plasticizers, and polychlorinated dibenzodioxins. Nowadays, several microorganisms are used in the detoxification of these hazardous effluents. Researchers have found that microbial degradation is the most promising treatment method to remove high biological oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) from wastewater. Microorganisms also remove AOX toxicity, chlorinated compounds, suspended solids, color, lignin, derivatives, etc. from the pulp and paper mill effluents. But in the current scenario, mill effluents are known to deteriorate the environment and therefore it is highly desirable to deploy advanced technologies for effluent treatment. This review summarizes the eco-friendly advanced treatment technologies for effluents generated from pulp and paper mills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Honesty of publications is fundamental in science. Unfortunately, science has an increasing fake paper problem with multiple cases having surfaced in recent years, even in renowned journals. There are companies, the so-called paper mills, which professionally fake research data and papers. However, there is no easy way to systematically identify these papers. Here, we show that scanning for exchanged authors in resubmissions is a simple approach to detect potential fake papers. We investigated 2056 withdrawn or rejected submissions to Naunyn–Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology (NSAP), 952 of which were subsequently published in other journals. In six cases, the stated authors of the final publications differed by more than two thirds from those named in the submission to NSAP. In four cases, they differed completely. Our results reveal that paper mills take advantage of the fact that journals are unaware of submissions to other journals. Consequently, papers can be submitted multiple times (even simultaneously), and authors can be replaced if they withdraw from their purchased authorship. We suggest that publishers collaborate with each other by sharing titles, authors, and abstracts of their submissions. Doing so would allow the detection of suspicious changes in the authorship of submitted and already published papers. Independently of such collaboration across publishers, every scientific journal can make an important contribution to the integrity of the scientific record by analyzing its own pool of withdrawn and rejected papers versus published papers according to the simple algorithm proposed in the present paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soot stain from diverse sources is the most common stain that stains historical paper documents found in libraries, museums, and storage facilities. It is believed to be one of the types of deterioration that arises from the contact between stains and paper sheets. Therefore, in the present work, the effectiveness of the synthesized hybrid nanogel consisting of carbopol and nanoparticles (NPs) of ZnO, TiO2, or Fe3O4, in low and high-viscosity forms, for eliminating soot stains from historical paper manuscripts was conducted. The prepared hybrid nanogels were characterized utilizing the TEM, AFM, XRD, DLS, and Zeta Potential techniques. Following preparation, the soot-stained paper samples were heated to 105 °C for 6 days, a process known as accelerated thermal aging. Surface morphology, mechanical properties and the color change of the paper samples were investigated. The prepared hybrid nanogel had a spherical shape with well-defined edges and uniform size, with an average particle diameter ranging from 30 to 35 nm. There was no significant NPs agglomeration seen, suggesting uniform dispersion in the carbopol matrix. Additionally, the prepared gels' crystal structure and phase purity were revealed by the XRD analysis results. Paper fibers were visible in some parts of the treated sample with TiO2/carbopol hybrid nanogel at high-viscosity before aging. Cleaning soot-stained paper samples using high-viscosity Fe3O4/carbopol hybrid nanogel is more successful than using low-viscosity nanogel. the sample treated with high-viscosity ZnONPs/carbopol hybrid nanogel produced the highest total color differences (ΔE) (26.17). The paper sample treated with high-viscosity ZnO/carbopol hybrid nanogel exhibited the maximum tensile strength (61.8 N/mm2) and elongation at break (1.174%). The evaluation of the paper samples both before and after the cleaning process revealed that, the treatment with high-viscosity ZnO/carbopol hybrid nanogel gave the best results in removing soot stains from stained paper samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, a high percentage (> 50%) of the paper produced in Europe uses recovered paper (secondary fibers) as raw material. In order to improve the mechanical properties of the paper produced, different kinds of additives are usually incorporated into the paper. Emerging renewable materials based on agricultural or forest residues, such as cellulose nanomaterials, have recently proved good capacities as reinforcing agents for different applications. In this work, pulp from wheat straw with a content of cellulose nanomaterial has been produced and tested as a mechanical reinforcing agent for paper production. A soda semi-chemical process was applied for the delignification of straw, to produce pulp with high cellulose content. Posteriorly, pulps with cellulose nanofibers were obtained in a high-pressure homogenizer, applying three different pretreatments to the cellulose pulp (acid hydrolysis, enzymatic hydrolysis and thermal treatment with glycerol) in order to facilitate the obtention of cellulose nanomaterial. Handsheets of paper were prepared from two sources of secondary fiber (fluting paper and old corrugated containers), adding different percentages of wheat straw derivatives (0, 3.5, 5 and 7%). The fibers' morphology and the papers' mechanical properties were investigated. Noticeable improvement rates (up to 25%) were observed for some mechanical properties of paper containing nanocellulose produced after the enzymatic and acid pretreatments. The quality of the secondary fibers source also affected the improvement rates achieved, with higher percentage changes for the lower-quality recycled paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Au-Ag alloy nanostars based flexible paper surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy sensors were fabricated through simple nanostar coating on regular office paper, and the surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy detection performances were investigated using crystal violet dye analyte. Au-Ag nanostars with sharp tips were synthesized via metal ions reduction method. Transmission electron microscope images, X-Ray diffraction pattern and energy dispersive spectroscopy elemental mapping confirmed the nanostar geometry and Au/Ag components of the nanostructure. UV-Vis-NIR absorption spectrum shows wide local surface plasmon resonance induced optical extinction. In addition, finite-difference time-domain simulation shows much stronger electromagnetic field from nanostars than from sphere nanoparticle. The effect of coating layer on Raman signal intensities was discussed, and optimized 5-layer coating with best Raman signal was obtained. The Au-Ag nanostatrs homogeneously distribute on paper fiber surface. The detection limit is 10−10 M, and the relationship between analyte concentrations and Raman signal intensities shows well linear, for potential quantitative analysis. The calculated enhancement factor is 4.795×106. The flexible paper surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy sensors could be applied for trace chemical and biology molecule detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Composite materials have been widely used because of their superior properties compared to those of the original material. Separation of the constituent materials is not easy in the recycling process, and such an effort lowers economic viability. As such, this study employed a pyrolysis as a valorizing method for the composite material. Disposable paper cup waste (DPCW) was chosen as the model compound for paper-plastic composites. To offer green/sustainable features, CO2 was employed as a raw and reactive material in the pyrolysis process. It was proved that DPCW primarily composed of cellulose (outer layer) and polyethylene (inner layer). In the single-stage and multistage pyrolysis of DPCW, the CO2 reactivity in the homogeneous reaction of CO2 and DPCW-derived volatiles was not rapid. To accelerate the reaction kinetics governing the reactivity of CO2, the catalytic pyrolysis of DPCW over Ni/SiO2 was performed. The formation of syngas increases significantly, suggesting that CO2 reactivity was catalytically enhanced. The generation of syngas (enhanced by CO2) was inversely related to the DPCW oil generation, indicating that more carbon was assigned from the oil to the gaseous pyrogenic products. The study results would offer a strategic means to valorize paper-plastic composites and CO2 into energy through pyrolysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report an innovative and facile approach to fabricating an ultrasensitive plasmonic paper substrate for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). The approach exploits the self-assembling capability of poly(styrene-b-2-vinyl pyridine) block copolymers to form a thin film at the air-liquid interface within the single microdroplet scale for the first time and the subsequent in situ growth of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The concentration of the block copolymer was found to play an essential role in stabilizing the droplets during the mass transfer phase and formation of silver nanoparticles, thus influencing the SERS signals. SEM analysis of the morphology of the plasmonic paper substrates revealed the formation of spherical AgNPs evenly distributed across the surface of the formed copolymer film with a size distribution of 47.5 nm. The resultant enhancement factor was calculated to be 1.2 × 107, and the detection limit of rhodamine 6G was as low as 48.9 pM. The nanohybridized plasmonic paper was successfully applied to detect two emerging pollutants—sildenafil and flibanserin—with LODs as low as 1.48 nM and 3.45 nM, respectively. Thus, this study offers new prospects for designing an affordable and readily available, yet highly sensitive, paper-based SERS substrate with the potential for development as a lab-on-a-chip device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The mobile device diffusion has increasingly highlighted the opportunity to collect patient-reported outcomes (PROs) through electronic patient-reported outcomes measurements (ePROMs) during the clinical routine. Despite the ePROMs promises and advantages, the equivalence when a PRO measure is moved from the original paper-and-pencil to the electronic version is still little investigated. This study aims at evaluating equivalence between PROMs and ePROMs self-administration in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS); in addition, preference of self-administration type was evaluated. Methods: The Manual Ability Measure-36 (MAM-36) and Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) were selected for the equivalence test. The app ABOUTCOME was developed through a user-centered design approach to administer the questionnaires on tablet. Both paper-and-pencil and electronic versions were randomly self-administered. Intrarater reliability between both versions was evaluated through the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC, excellent for values ≥ 0.75). Results: Fifty PwMS (35 females) participated to the study (mean age: 54.7±11.0 years, disease course: 27 relapsing-remitting and 23 progressive; mean EDSS: 4.7±1.9; mean disease duration: 13.3±9.5 years). No statistically significant differences were found for the means total scores of MAM-36 (p = 0.61) and FSS (p = 0.78). The ICC value for MAM-36 and FSS was excellent (0.98 and 0.94, respectively). Most of participants preferred the tablet version (84%). Conclusion: The results of the study provide evidence about the equivalence between the paper-and-pencil and electronic versions of PROs administration. In addition, PwMS prefer electronic methods rather than paper because the information can be provided more efficiently and accurately. The results could be easily extended to other MS PROs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexible and small-scale energy storage technologies are critical for future applications such as wearable electronics. In this context, paper has emerged as a lightweight, low-cost, and ecologically friendly flexible substrate for energy storage devices. This paper presents a simple method for fabricating a micro-supercapacitor (MSC) using a wax printing approach that can achieve high resolution without requiring complex processes. In addition, the developed MnO2–Au-paper (MAP) microelectrodes with high porosity exhibit enhanced charge and ion transfer while maintaining a stable flexibility. The solid-state micro-supercapacitor delivers a very large areal capacitance of 624.32 mF cm−2 at 0.2 mA cm−2 and is stable under external stress. The highest energy and power densities obtained for the present MSCs (55.5 μWh cm−2 and 1.59 mW cm−2, respectively), are much larger than those previously reported for pseudocapacitive MSCs, including flexible ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pulp and paper industry is critical to global industrial and economic development. Recently, India's pulp and paper industries have been facing severe competitive challenges. The challenges have impaired the environmental performance and resulted in the closure of several operations. Assessment and prediction of the performance of the Indian pulp and paper industry using various parameters is a critical task for researchers. This study proposes a framework for performance assessment and prediction based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), Artificial Neural Networks, and Deep Learning (DL) to assist industry administration and decision-making. We presented a case study based on eight industries to demonstrate the methodology's applicability. This study analyses and predicts industry performance based on sample data observations over 30 years. The result suggests the DEA-DL-based efficiency prediction has an overall MSE of 0.08 compared with the actual efficiency. Furthermore, the efficiency rankings are compared between the three techniques. The results suggest that the integrated DEA-DL method is primarily accurate in most scenarios with the actual values. The findings of this study provide a comprehensive analysis of environmental performance for policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pine needle waste-based ethylene scavenging paper was developed by incorporating nanomaterial halloysite nanotube (HNT) and micro-fibrillated cellulose (MFC). The ethylene scavenging capacity was evaluated with the banana storage in the developed nanocomposite paper. The quality of bananas, such as color, physical appearance, total soluble solids (TSS), pH, and weight loss, was evaluated during banana storage. The PN/MFC/HNT 30% based packaging system delayed the ripening and senescence process. The color of banana, TSS, and pH was stable during the storage period in the PN/MFC/HNT 30%. In contrast, the banana in control PN packaging has accelerated quality decaying have been observed. The ethylene content was in the control PN packaging recorded at 633.67 μL L−1 and 424.12 μL L−1 in the PN/MFC/HNT 30% package on the last day of storage analysis. The nanocomposite paper with the waste pine needle with HNT and MFC has observed an excellent ethylene scavenging capacity with more than 200 μL L−1 on the 10th day of storage analysis. The developed paper has high potential in the active packaging application for fresh produces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some ancient Chinese paper artifacts dyed with amur cork tree bark extracts are currently preserved to different extents in museums and libraries worldwide. As traditional natural plant dyes, the long-term performance of the amur cork tree bark extract-dyed handmade paper has been questioned under a preserved environment. The photodegradation process of the extract-dyed papers was examined under accelerating artificial UVA irradiation conditions according to China national standard-paper and board- accelerated aging (exposure to light). Changes during aging were analyzed by optical observation and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR), pH, and tensile strength and folding endurance tests. The results showed that the main components from extracted dyes played an important role in affecting the photodegradation properties of dyed paper. The changes in surface color, pH, morphology and mechanical properties after the artificial UVA accelerated degradation tests revealed that a suitable concentration of the extract dyes for maintaining the long-term irradiation stability of the paper is important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anger suppression is important in our daily life, as its failure can sometimes lead to the breaking down of relationships in families. Thus, effective strategies to suppress or neutralise anger have been examined. This study shows that physical disposal of a piece of paper containing one's written thoughts on the cause of a provocative event neutralises anger, while holding the paper did not. In this study, participants wrote brief opinions about social problems and received a handwritten, insulting comment consisting of low evaluations about their composition from a confederate. Then, the participants wrote the cause and their thoughts about the provocative event. Half of the participants (disposal group) disposed of the paper in the trash can (Experiment 1) or in the shredder (Experiment 2), while the other half (retention group) kept it in a file on the desk. All the participants showed an increased subjective rating of anger after receiving the insulting feedback. However, the subjective anger for the disposal group decreased as low as the baseline period, while that of the retention group was still higher than that in the baseline period in both experiments. We propose this method as a powerful and simple way to eliminate anger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]