| These studies were designed to explore the feasibility of using immobilized enzymes for deinking of laser printing and photocopying wastes. Photocopied waste and laser printed waste paper are difficult to deink with conventional techniques. A novel solution for ink removal is to use soluble enzymes to facilitate deinking. Degrading the fibre function of enzymes may lead to reduced yield and adversely affect fibre and paper properties.;The uptake of soluble cellulase onto the support was less than 10%. Results from comparative experiments with soluble and immobilized cellulase have shown the immobilized cellulase can produce superior deinking results compared to soluble cellulase. The best result with soluble cellulase gave residual ink levels of about 350ppm on photocopied wastes, compared to immobilized cellulase further reduced the ink level to about 50ppm or less. Thus, immobilized cellulase has significantly improved the deinking efficiency of photocopied and laser printed office wastes. |
