Tungsten Oxide as Rewritable Material Helps Reduce Paper Waste
Even in today’s digital age, the world still relies on paper and ink, most of which ends up in landfills or recycling centers. To reduce this waste, scientists have now developed a low-cost, environmentally friendly way to create printed materials with rewritable paper, which is made out of tungsten oxide and a common polymer used in medicines and food. The U.S. has been working to reduce paper waste by increasing recycling efforts for years. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, more paper is now recovered for recycling than almost all other materials combined. This saves energy, water, landfill space and greenhouse gas emissions. But even more waste could be avoided if consumers could reuse paper many times before recycling or trashing it. So far, however, such products under development often are made with toxic, expensive organic dyes. The researchers created a film by mixing low-toxicity tungsten oxide with polyvinyl pyrrolidone. To "print" on i...