Printing with Water on Reusable Paper

Jan-28-14 Researchers have developed a ‘water-jet’ printer technique that uses water instead of ink to create temporary prints on specially-treated sheets of paper.

The printer itself is not particularly special—a standard inkjet printer with the ink cartridges filled with water instead of ink. As Sean Zhang, professor of chemistry at Jilin University in Changchun, said: “The magic is in the paper.” The paper used in the process has been coated with an invisible dye that will take on a color when exposed water, and then fade away again in about a day as the water evaporates. According to the developers, the print is clear and the paper can be re-used a number of times.

Printed documents are still used in offices and businesses around the world, and according to studies, about 40 percent of the prints made in an office are thrown away after a single reading.

Image: Raido Lepp

More Info about this Invention:

[PHYS.ORG]
[DISCOVERY]

---