Use of Optical Brighteners In Paper Mills
Optical brightening agents are generally used in paper industries. The purpose behind this is to enhance the whitening effects on paper. These are additives added to the paper to make them look whiter than their natural selves.
It is common for most manufacturers to add optical brighteners for paper or optical brightening agents as they are known. These are helpful in adding certain chemicals to the paper for it to take the invisible, ultraviolet light.
This also causes the paper to emit a blue spectrum seen as blue-ish white to the human eye. Also, this is one of the reasons why printer profiles made with a lot of optical brighteners end up printing images with a yellow tint to them.
These optical brightening agents are also the reason why over the years, the paper has lost its glow. So, with time, let us say a time period of several months or even years, the apparent brightness of the paper decreases drastically, giving it a dull look.
Some people choose to print natural papers, and others choose to print using Optical Brightening Agents.
How to check if your paper has Optical Brightening Agents?
The best way to prevent this is to shine a black light on the paper. The black color will make the optical brighteners glow. This effect can even be seen on a white cloth when you shine a black light on it.
The reason is that a paper that does not have optical brightening agents will not react at all to the black light projected upon it. Optical brightening agents also have a high melting point, allowing them to mix with molten plastic to give any shade very quickly.
Where are Optical Brightening Agents used?
Optical Brighteners for paper are also used in more than just manufacturing paper. Its other uses are:
- Laundry detergent
- Plastics
- Paints
- Cosmetics
They are used in every industry for commercial as well as domestic use. They give the final products a unique and different finish. Recycled paper also needs a good amount of optical brightening agents to improve the color and make it look cleaner.
Conclusion:
Optical brighteners for paper are used majorly in the industry. The most significant advantage is that the manufacturers of paper and paper mill owners get the opportunity to provide the shiniest, brightest, and whitest papers to their customers.
Papers looking dull don’t sell, and the customers quickly switch to a different competitor waiting to grab the opportunity.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q.1. How can you tell if your paper has OBA’s?
A. The quickest way is to polish a black light on paper. A black light lamp will purpose the OBAs to glow in a big way. You’ve possibly visible this impact with white coloring under a black light. Paper (or clothes) without synthetic brighteners will no longer react to black light at all. Black lighting that screws into ordinary household sockets is available, however on occasion difficult to find. Your kid’s “invisible ink pen” he was given at the toy shop possibly has a black light lamp on it to light up the OBA’s withinside the invisible ink.
Q.2 How do you increase the whiteness of paper?
A. In paper production, an excessive whiteness stage is accomplished by the use of means of using rather bleached pulp collectively with excessive mild scattering filler pigment. To similarly boom whiteness degrees luxurious components consisting of Fluorescent Whitening Agents (FWA) and shading dyes are needed.
Q.3. Why is brightness important in the paper?
A. The whiter and brighter the paper, the extra contrast – because of this your files could have bolder images, crisper textual content, and brighter colors. This is mainly crucial when you need your files to appear absolutely fine for such things as patron conferences or presentations.
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