RT Journal Article
T1 Cellulose nanofibers and chitosan to remove flexographic inks from wastewaters
A1 Balea Martín, Ana
A1 Monte Lara, María Concepción
A1 Fuente González, Elena de la
A1 Negro Álvarez, Carlos Manuel
A1 Sánchez Salvador, José Luis
A1 Blanco Suárez, María Ángeles
AB Flexographic printing technology is an economical, productive, low maintenance and versatile technology. However, the removal of these inks by the traditional flotation process during paper recycling is not possible since they remain dissolved in the waters, making necessary the development of alternative methods. Recent studies have revealed the potential use of nanocellulose (NC) combined with a cationic polyacrylamide to remove flexographic inks from wastewater. The use of a natural polymer, such as chitosan, would be an important improvement of this treatment because NC and chitosan are the two most abundant natural polymers with interesting properties, such as non-toxicity and biodegradability. Therefore, in this study the decolorization of three flexographic inks (copper phthalocyanine blue, carbon black and diarylide yellow) by the sequential addition of cellulose nanofibers, produced from recycled paper, and chitosan has been evaluated. Results show that this eco-friendly approach has high potential for the removal of water-based inks with an almost 100% reduction of turbidity and ink from the wastewater. Moreover, the final sludge containing nanocellulose and inks could be used to reinforce the pulp of the middle layers of carton board, improving the mechanical properties of the product and reducing waste generation.
PB Royal Society of Chemistry
SN 2053-1400
YR 2019
FD 2019
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/100233
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/100233
LA eng
NO Balea, A., Monte, M. C., Fuente, E., Sanchez-Salvador, J. L., Blanco, A., & Negro, C. (2019). Cellulose nanofibers and chitosan to remove flexographic inks from wastewaters. Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology, 5(9), 1558-1567.
NO Comunidad de Madrid 
NO Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España)
DS Docta Complutense
RD 10 abr 2025