By ANDRIANNA MARSTON

alm045@latech.edu

 

 

 

Traditional printing and writing paper will soon have a better quality because of a new industrial contract the Institute for Micromanufacturing has received from two major paper companies.

Yuri Lvov, an associate professor of chemistry in the IfM, said the research facility now has a $150,000 contract with leading paper companies SAPPI and International Paper to develop Smart Paper, a stronger and whiter paper.

“The idea is to apply nano-technology to pulp and paper processing to make paper twice as strong than it has ever been before and more white,” Lvov said.

Lvov said using wood pulp to make paper is a concept that was introduced in Chinese culture years ago, and the same approach is used today in the United States.

“Louisiana plays a major role with the U.S. being one of the leading paper producers in the world today,” Lvov said. “But our nation is losing paper production leadership because labor production is decreasing.”

Lvov said for the U.S. to earn back the No. 1 spot, a few changes in paper production would help. 

“Paper production in our nation is suffering from overseas competition with cheap labor,” Lvov said. “If we start applying nano-technology to improve the quality of paper, we are sure to kick competition to the side until the technology emerges overseas.”

Lvov said the economic industry will learn a great deal about the emergence of nano-technology because of this new paper, and Tech will learn much more about the paper-making industry.

Kody Varahramyan, director of the IfM and a professor of electrical engineering, said he is collaborating with Lvov to make the new paper, which will reach shelves only after more research is done.

“Inventing the new Smart Paper does not mean researchers at IfM are paper manufacturers; it just means the team is applying nano-technology, a resource competitors do not have, to remodel ordinary paper,” Varahramyan said.

Varahramyan said it will be a few years before Smart Paper will be available for purchase because the project requires more research.

Patrick Grant, a graduate student of biomedical engineering, said one of the objectives of the research is to use more recycled paper.

Grant said, “By improving the quality of paper at the IfM, we help decrease competition for the U.S. and increase production for our local industry.”