Rochester, NY -- A group of researchers working for Xerox has recently been recognized by given the “Award for Team Innovation” by the American Chemical Society for their invention of a new type of ink powder.
The liquid material was developed by Patricia Burns and Grazyna Kmiecik-Lawrynowicz and is said to be similar in consistency to that of house paint. When they made the discovery they were working with pigments. The pigments were able to stick together and then over time dry out. Initially they encountered some problems, but two other scientists, Chieh-Min Cheng and Tie Hwee Ng found that by changing the chemical properties of one material before it was used to make the liquid prevented the problem from occurring.
Xerox calls the new ink “emulsion aggregation toner”. When finished, it comes in the form of a fine powder and reportedly can produce high quality color images without using as much electricity as regular toner, and more importantly, reduces the carbon emissions.
The American Chemical Society developed a video which highlights this innovation which can be seen here.
