Deinking flexographic-printed papers: Destabilization of flexographic ink dispersions with copper compounds

Flexographic printing inks form electrosterically stabilized colloidal dispersions in water that display extreme stability at the alkaline pH values of most wastepaper deinking systems. A significant amount of U.S. newspapers are now printed using water-based flexographic inks, and the residual inks from these sources are problematic to remove in deinking plants. A successful flocculant for flexographic ink particles used in deinking plant filtrate streams requires that both the electrostatic and steric components of colloidal stabilization be eliminated simultaneously. The present study shows the advantageous characteristics of cupric chloride in achieving rapid flocculation of flexographic inks. Flocculation experiments were performed with a model ink as well as a mixture of offset and flexographic inks from recycled newspapers. The critical coagulation concentration of cupric chloride has been compared to other chloride, nitrate, and copper salts. Copper(II) chloride has been found to be significantly more effective than other such salts in achieving destabilization and aggregation of flexographic ink particles. A possible flocculation mechanism of flexographic ink particles by cupric chloride is presented.