Introducing undeinked old newsprint as a new resource of electrical purposes paper

This work introduces, for the first time worldwide, undeinked recycled old newsprint as a new resource of electrical purposes paper. Impregnation of undeinked recycled old newsprint paper with linseed oil enhances the breaking length of paper and remarkably improves its electrical properties, i.e., the dielectric constant increases greatly and the a.c. conductivity decreases significantly due to impregnation. It was found that the electrical properties of the undeinked old newsprint paper and its linseed oil impregnated counterpart are close to the electrical properties of paper made from the more expensive virgin wood pulps and their linseed oil impregnated counterparts. Using the undeinked pulp is more privileged than using the deinked pulp; because eliminating the deinking step saves money, time, and reagents. In addition, eliminating the deinking step improved the breaking length of paper. Electron dispersive X-ray elemental analysis (EDX) was used to investigate the undeinked and deinked pulps for residual elements originating from the printing materials. EDX was correlated to the slight differences in electrical properties of paper made from undeinked and deinked pulps. However, impregnation was able to overcome these slight differences. It was shown that improvement in electrical properties, due to impregnation, is sustained at elevated temperatures.