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Abstract:
Minerals in Paper Manufacturing, Dr. Mahendra Patel, Industry Paper Publications (M & P), 350 pages, price US $65 + $15 p&p, obtainable via the website www.industrypaper.net.

This book surveys the subject from technological, geo-graphical and economic perspectives. The ambitious project is aimed at a number of audiences, hence the lengthy opening section which gives an overview of the paper industry for non-technical, commercial and marketing personnel. Most readers of this journal are advised to skip to section two, which introduces the subject of pigments and starts to introduce more technical terminology.

Nanotechnology books on paper technology

India | Posted on March 8th, 2011

The next three sections constitute the main bulk of the book and are where the most important information is located. The first details extraction and purification of the main minerals and outlines their market share and the principal geographical deposits. This is an excellent overview of the minerals market which many non-specialists will find invaluable - it is just a pity that the quality of images detracts from the presentation.

Section four follows with a detailed exposition of the uses and properties of the major minerals, whilst section five describes a number of 'high performance' products. Both filler and coating uses are dealt with in some detail, and copious references enhance the text. (However, be aware there are some errors with the referencing.)

The last section collects together disparate topics, including recycling, a forecast of future trends, and paper testing and QC. (In this last section it would have been instructive to include more information on minerals testing; for example, in my experience very few paper technicians know about Einlahner abrasion testing.)

There is no doubt the text contains a huge amount of excellent general and technical information on the subject. Furthermore, there is an emphasis on Asian, particularly Indian, trends in pigment usage, which will no doubt be of interest to suppliers. However it must be noted the manuscript is marred by a great many typographical errors, and it could certainly have done with a more thorough proof-read before publication. Fortunately there are relatively few factual errors by comparison.
Overall, despite its faults, the book contains sufficient information to warrant purchase by anyone involved in specification and application of minerals to the paper industry. The author is to be commended for coalescing a large amount of information into a readable and usable volume which, for remarkably little outlay, will easily repay its cost.

Daven Chamberlain

Micro and Nanotechnology in Paper Manufacturing, Dr. Mahendra Patel, Industry Paper Publications (M & P), price US $120 + $20 p&p, obtainable via the website www.industrypaper.net

This rather long book, at 530 pages, is arranged in 37 chapters segregated into 6 sections. Section one consists of an overview of the area, which is mainly centred around paper and fibre science - so straight away the reader is grounded in the area of paper manufacturing. Section 2 expands upon the fibre science in much greater depth, and brings agricultural residues into the equation, as well as OM trees.

Sections 3 and 4 describes how micro- and nano- materials are applied in a host of papermaking and pulping applications, in particular to specific paper types (coated, newsprint, medical, tissue) and during printing. The fifth section is short and deals with environment and energy, while the last section contains some general comments upon R&D and economics, before finishing with a really useful series of chapters describing the scientific techniques used to probe these structural levels.

Compared with the book on minerals this is a far more accomplished work. It has been written to coincide with an explosion of research in the area, so its timing cannot be faulted. The manuscript is mercifully free of most of the basic typographical errors which plague the previous book, and the images are of far better quality. There are copious notes at the end of each chapter, although occasionally there are still noticeable instances where numbers in the text do not correspond with those in the reference section.
The main problem this book will suffer from is the speed at which the subject is expanding; it will soon seem dated as the applications of micro-, and especially nano-, technology, continue apace. That said, the book is thoroughly recommended as an excellent snapshot of current applications to our industry.

Daven Chamberlain

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