'electromagnetic paper recycling system' by mohsen saleh iida awards 2010

‘electromagnetic paper recycling system’ by mohsen saleh

‘electromagnetic paper recycling system’ by mohsen saleh from italy is one of the shortlisted entries from more than 4000 participants in the ‘iida awards 2010‘ competition, organized by designboom in collaboration with incheon metropolitan city. the shortlisted entry uses a specific range of electromagnetic radiation to break the bonds of color pigments, producing a white piece of paper that can be used again. designer’s own words: the concept of ‘electromagnetic erasing system’ is inspired from observing the destructive effects of electromagnetic radiation on color pigments. while ink and pigment producers try to increase the resistance of pigments in prolonged exposure of sunlight, this project aims to utilize electromagnetic radiation in a fully controlled environment inside a machine to break the bonds of color pigments which absorb only a particular range of electromagnetic spectrum. in order to crate an efficient system, only those with CMYK pigments should be utilized to ensure that their absorption band is different from the paper. in a similar way to photochromic or thermochromic material, color pigments start to decompose into colorless products. however, contrary to what we would expect from a photochromic change, electro erasing would be an irreversible reaction.

‘chemical decomposition begins with a 100% vacuum so that the gas compound (bleach gas for example) can penetrate into the paper texture’

— for those who wish to republish an excerpt of this article, please have the courtesy to mention that the project is a part of the iida awards 2010 competition, organized by designboom in collaboration with incheon metropolitan city, and link back to the original publication on designboom. thank you.