The feasibility of Pinus insularis (Philippine Pine Tree) Resin as an Alternative Binder in Inkjet Printer Ink

A Research Proposal

Submitted to the Department of Science

University of Asia and the Pacific

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Course

Introduction to Biology (Laboratory)

IMC 3 – Group 3

Caballar, Nichelle Jane

Dee, Ayesha Mykiela

De Perio, Deborah Psalm

Go, Claudia Grace

Marmol, Cedric

Yupangco, Rachel Monica

March 20, 2013

CHAPTER I

Introduction

Background of the study

Most people of today don’t realize that the printers they use for printing articles, labels, photos and such are harmful to Mother Nature. This is because printers use ink cartridges with toxic chemical components. The main component of ink is petroleum and its case contains a non-biodegradable component, polymer plastic. These toxic components can cause problems in landfills thus leading to the destruction of our environment (Salmons, 2012). People are only concerned in the quality and quantity of the printed materials thus overlooking the harmful effects it can truly bring. Because of this, curiosity and concern have hit our team thus aiming us to find another solution to producing green and eco-friendlier inks that can help lessen the destruction of Mother Nature.

In this experiment, the group will test the use of Pinus insularis (Pine tree) resin as an ink binder for the printer. The resin will be collected from the pine trees located in Baguio City, Philippines. The group will then make their own ink that will then be transferred in an HP ink cartridge. This will then be tested in an HP printer to check whether or not the experiment worked. The purpose of accomplishing this experiment is for the group to help save Mother Nature. It is also for the group to promote the use of free and eco-friendly resin as a print binder that will help lessen the destruction of the environment.

Significance of the Study

This study will be conducted for the researchers to obtain a low cost ink derived from natural resources such as resin from pine trees. With this, the community will be able to utilize natural resources present in the environment. Since resin is a renewable resource, the researchers would like to know its feasibility as a sustainable resource.

This study may open doors to bigger research and development opportunities for resin. Not only the resin from pine trees but also from other trees. With this development, other purposes of resin may be discovered. The development of resin technology may further provide livelihood, advancement of technology and economic growth in the country.

Objectives

This research study mainly aims to investigate the feasibility of Pinus insularis (Philippine Pine Tree) resin as an alternative binder for inkjet printer ink. The researchers also want to prove and achieve the following objectives:

1. Does the amount of Pine tree resin in the ink solution affect its quality?2. Would Pine tree resin be harmful during the experiment?3. Is there a significant difference between the ink made from Pine tree resin and

commercially available ink in terms of:a. Quality of inkb. Cost of ink

CHAPTER II

Review of Related Literature

Printers are one of the very many useful machines bought by people over time. In computer technology, a printer is a device that produces paper documents electronically via desktop or any connected computers. Printers also vary in different types such as toner-based printers, liquid inkjet printers, solid ink printers, dye-sublimation printers, and inkless printers. Major component of a printer in order to produce is its ink (though there are specialized printers that do not need ink to produce).

According to Sharon Huntington in her article about ink, ink started from carving into cave walls to Chinese use of pine smoke and lamp oil about five thousand years ago then to the modern advanced ink today. But there are some issues of using chemical ink in regards of today’s environment. According to research, there are three main environmental issues with ink and those are volatile organic compounds, heavy metals, and non – renewable oils.

Ink is the reason why different things can be printed on paper. Without it, the printing process is impossible to do. The main component of ink is petroleum and its case contains a non-biodegradable component, polymer plastic (Salmons, 2012) . In an article about the harmful effects of printer ink (The Ink Blog), it was stated there “Petroleum is one natural resource that is being consumed at a rate that exceeds the rate nature can produce it, thus damaging the environment. Petroleum based inks release Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s) in to the atmosphere. VOC’s are gasses that contain harmful chemicals which cause negative health effects. They are released in to the air as the printer ink dries on to paper”.

Studies show that printer inks also contain high heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, chromium, mercury, lead, and zinc. The Pacific Ink company also stated in their blog, The Ink Blog, that these damaging metals end up in our soil when printed pages end up in landfills.

“Printer inks absorb in to the paper they are printed on. When printed pages end up in landfills the paper decomposes and the heavy metals are released in the soil. Once in the soil there are many ways that the metals are damaging to the environment.” These toxic components can cause problems in landfills thus leading to the destruction of our environment (Salmons, 2012).

Printing ink contains varnish, colorant, solvent and additives, which are harmful to the environment thus poisoning the environment. The emission of varnishes and solvents like VOC’s, methanol and xylene in the air, and colorants and heavy metals like titanium oxide and iron causes environmental pollution affecting the health of organisms (Miller, 2008).

Material in the most particular use of the phrase is a hydrocarbon release of much vegetation, particularly coniferous vegetation. Resins are appreciated for their material qualities and associated uses, such as the of varnishes, glues and meals replacement windows providers. They are also appreciated as an essential resource of raw components for natural features, and as elements of incense and fragrance. Flower resins have a very lengthy record that was recorded in historical Portugal by Theophrastus, in history the capital by Pliny the Older, and especially in the resins known as frankincense and myrrh, appreciated in historical red sea. These were extremely appreciated ingredients, and needed as incense in some spiritual rituals. Ruby is a difficult fossilized resin from historical vegetation.

Inkjet cartridge ink is composed of a chemical base, colorant and additives. The three bases available are water, oil, and natural gas solvents. Water and natural gas solvents are the most commonly used. Ink can have additives to guard the pH levels, preserve the ink, prevent evaporation or prevent the growth of fungus. Laser toner cartridges use dried toner that contains the dye and pigments used to print images.

Consumers can recycle the print cartridges. Staples and other stores that sell ink cartridges have a recycle drop-off points for customers to dispose their old cartridges. Once the cartridges are picked up, they are sorted by manufacturer type because many companies carry out their own recycling processes. The cartridges are broken down and various metals, such as aluminum and iron, are separated from the plastic. The raw materials created are used to manufacture new cartridges or other products.

Due to the high pollution content now, inventors are looking to create “green” ink that is biodegradable and eco-friendly.

CHAPTER III

Methodology

Materials and Equipment

Pinus insularis (Pine tree) resin Plastic container

Stirring rod 6 Beakers 3 Syringe 1 120 mL bottle of Glycerine Charcoal Hammer 2 empty ink cartridge Cheese cloth (katya) Hot water HP inkjet printer

Procedure

The Pine tree resin was collected using a bolo knife in Baguio city and was stored in a plastic container. The collected resin was kept for later use in the experimentation.

Before the actual experiment, the researchers grinded the charcoal to make it powdery. This was done using a hammer and was kept in a plastic container.

For the experiment, the resin was dissolved in a fixed amount of hot water. The charcoal acted as the pigment in the experiment. The researchers performed different sets of ink solution mixtures:

1. The first set (Ink A) contained 4g of resin, 40 mL of glycerine, 40 mL of water and 10 g of powdered charcoal.

2. The second set (Ink B) contained 5g of resin, 40 mL of glycerine, 40 mL of water and 10 g of powdered charcoal.

All the solutions were mixed in their respective beakers using a stirring rod. The prepared mixture was filtered in an a clean and empty beaker using cheese cloth to remove excess particles.

Each mixture was transferred into its respective empty cartridges using a syringe.

For the test print, the researchers used HP inkjet printer. The researchers provided the respective test print paper per mixture and compared it with the test print using the commercially available ink. The researchers conducted a water test to compare the quality of ink when sprayed with water and when rubbed.

CHAPTER IV

Results and Discussion

The main objective of the study is to investigate and prove the effectiveness of Pinus insularis (Philippine Pine Tree) resin as an alternative binder for inkjet printer ink. After following a series of steps in the experiment, the researchers were able to have and gather the following data:

Concentration of Solution of Inks

INK A INK BPinus insularis resin 4 g 5 g

Water 40 mL 40 mLGlycerine 40 mL 40 mL

Powdered charcoal 10 g 10 g

Comparison of Ink samples to commercial ink

INK A INK B COMMERCIAL INKColor Gray Gray Deep black Water test Quality when

sprayed with water

Smudged Smudged Smudged

Quality when rubbed

Smudges and faded Smudged and faded Smudged

Ink A and Ink B varied in the amount of resin while all the other variables remained constant. The quality of ink A and ink B are the same although the two varied in terms of the amount of resin. The amount of the powedered charcoal is proportional to the color of the ink.

In terms of cost:

Total expenses of ink solution: Expenses per resin ink solution:

Glycerine (40 mL)

Php 30.00

Resin 0.00Charcoal (10 g) 3.00Total Php 33.00

Glycerine (120 mL) Php 90.00Resin 0.00Charcoal (20 g) 6.00Total Php 96.00

TOTAL VOLUME OF INK FILTERED = 30 mL

TOTAL PRICE OF INK PRODUCED = Php 33.00 per cartridge

Comparison of price with commercial ink

Commercial ink = Php 410.00 per cartridge Pine tree resin ink = Php 33.00 per cartridge

Based on the gathered data, the total volume of the ink solution made is 30 mL and costs Php 33.00 per cartridge. Compared to commercial ink, the Pine tree resin ink is a lot more cheaper.

CHAPTER V

Conclusion and Recommendation

Conclusion

Based on the experiment, the researchers conclude three things. First, even though the amount of resin varied, the quality of the material stayed the same. Second, the Pine tree resin was not harmful during the experiment but rather helpful and reliable. Lastly, differences between comercially available ink and the ink made from Pine tree resin were percieved especially in the quality and cost of ink. The ink made from Pine tree resin was way cheaper compared to the comerically available one but the quality of this cheaper ink was poorer.

Overall, the researchres conclude that Pine tree resin, free from nature, can be used as an alternative binder in inkjet printer ink.

Recommendation

The researchers recommend more extraction of resin in Pinus insularis (Philippine Pine) tree to create many ink solutions. Furthermore, more tests containing different concentrations of water, glycerine and powdered charcoal must be studied in order to find out if these materials could also affect the quality of the ink produced.

Documentation

Materials and Equipment used in the experiment

Weighing of resin and powdered charcoal using a triple beam

balance to get their exact amount

Dissolving resin in hot water

Dissolved resin (unfiltered)

Unfiltered Resin inks A& B

Filtering of Resin inks A &B using katya

References

Harris, B. (04 October 2012).What is resin? Retrieved from:http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-resin.html

HSE Consulting and Sampling, Inc. (2006). Literature review for Glycerol and Glycols. Retrieved from: http://tsp.plasa.org/tsp/working_groups/FS/docs/HSE.pdf

Miller, J. (March 2008). Printing inks and the environment. Retrieved from: http//www.fineeyecolor.com/files/inks_and_the_environment.pdf

Salmons, F. (26 February 2011). InkJet cartridge recycling programs. Retrieved from: http://www.greenmi.net/inkjet-cartridge-recycling-programs/

Westernman, K.(1997). What is Glycerin? Retrieved from: http://www.pioneerthinking.com/crafts/crafts-soapmaking/glycerin.html

Filtered Resin inks A & B (30 mL)

Injecting the Resin ink into the cartridge