Optical stability of laboratory papers with wheat pulp printed by digital technique after artificial ageing

Paper as cellulose based substrate is highly susceptible to photolytic damage caused by excessive exposure to light and temperature. Hence the focus of this research was to assess whether the wheat pulp used as a raw material for laboratory paper production can provide same or even better optical stability than papers from recycled wood pulp. For a better insight into the stability of the paper as printing substrate, study was expanded on prints made by digital technique on papers with different content of wheat pulp. Unprinted and printed papers were artificial aged using a xenon lamp with a daylight filter during 48 and 96 hours. Optical stability degradation of unprinted and printed papers was observed through Reflectance spectra (R) and by Euclidean colour difference (ΔE00). The results in this study indicated that addition of wheat pulp provide better optical stability of printed and unprinted laboratory papers.