Journal of Engineering Research and Studies E-ISSN 0976-7916

Review Article
PRINTING PAPERS: SIZING AND ITS ROLE
Manisha S. Deshpande

Address for Correspondence

M.E. (Printing) Third Semester, Pune University
E Mail msdeshpande2010@rediffmail.com
Guided by- Prof R. G. Kaduskar, P. V. G’s College of Engineering and Technology, Pune

ABSTRACT
This document gives information about water resistant property of paper i.e. sizing. It gives details of sizing materials and requirement of
properties for different printing methods.
KEYWORDS Sizing, Printing Methods, Balanced sizing
I. INTRODUCTION
It is considered that printing; has fostered communication
and propagated the knowledge, has done more to develop
civilization. It has been so only because of use of paper.
The forerunner of paper (c. 2600 BC) was papyrus, a
material made out of the papyrus plant, which grows in
Africa. The actual invention of paper produced from plant
fibres such as bamboo fibres or cambric grass dates back to
about AD 105; recent literature refers to paper production
actually dating much further back. Tsai Lun from China is
accredited as the inventor. Now a day it is widely used. But
different printing methods require different properties of
paper. One of such important property is sizing.4
II. FUNCTIONS OF SIZING
Sizing refers to imparting some degree of resistance to the
absorption or penetration of liquids, especially water.
Sizing of paper is a very old and well-established art and a
wide variety of materials have been sized. As is well
known, the sizing agent may be applied to the fibres during
the papermaking operation, in which case the process is
called internal sizing (also known as beater sizing or
engine sizing), or it may be applied to the surface of the
paper after web formation, in which case it is called
external or surface sizing.
Most of the end-use properties that the size includes one
or several of the following:
• Increased Hydrophobic;
• Film-Formation or Barrier Properties;
• Increased Surface Strength;
• Modified Frictional Properties;
• Modified Optical Properties;
• Reduced Sheet Porosity.
III. TYPES OF SIZING
1. Internal Sizing1 - A particularly important class of
sizing agents for internal sizing are the fatty acid sizing
agents, i.e. sodium, potassium or ammonium salts of long-
chain saturated fatty acids. In employing these agents, it is
conventional practice to add the sizing agent to the paper
furnish and thereafter add a precipitating agent which aids
in setting the size of the papermaking fibres. The
precipitating agents used are water-soluble polyvalent
metal salts, such as alum or aluminum chloride. Use of the
aforesaid combination of sizing agent and precipitating
agent can be accomplished in conventional papermaking
machines without the aid of any special apparatus.
Moreover, the materials used are of low cost and are
generally quite effective in imparting to paper the ability to
resist penetration by liquids. However, there are certain
significant limitations and disadvantages associated with
their use.
For example, in some instances the water resistance
attainable with these agents is inadequate. Furthermore, in
using these sizing agents at the concentrations customarily
employed serious problems can arise with regard to
formation of translucent "spots" in the paper and there may
also be problems associated with accumulation of the
sizing agent at the press rolls of the papermaking machine
or with clogging of pipes or other equipment by the sizing
agent.
Al2(SO4)3 + 6H2O = 2Al(OH)3 + 3H2SO4
2. External sizing /surface sizing 1 Applied to surface
sizing this implies that the resistance is achieved by
applying chemicals to the surface of the paper or board
after it has been formed rather than adding chemicals to the
wet pulp. In modern technology, surface sizing also
involves conferring properties besides hydrophobicity.
Parameters loosely referred to as printability, gluability
and runnability may also be important in some
applications. A better expression than surface size in these
circumstances is surface modifier or surface enhancer.
There has been a drive towards higher specification paper
grades. In some cases the paper properties required would
be difficult or impossible to achieve without application of
chemicals at the surface. Increased production of coated

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 Journal of Engineering Research and Studies
grades has also encouraged surface sizing which is used to
control coating hold-out.
Increased emphasis on environmental issues and the need
to clean up the 'wet-end' system have also promoted
modern surface sizing. A cleaner wet end allows better
control of the papermaking process and makes substantial
financial savings possible on large, fast machines. The risk
of penalties charged on high levels of chemical oxygen
demand (COD) in the mill effluent can provide a strong
incentive to increase the amount of chemical treatment at
the paper surface where retention of chemicals applied is
essentially 100%.
The formulation applied at the size press will usually
consist of a mixture of chemicals. These can be classified
according to their function:
• transport medium;
• surface strengthening agents;
• specialty chemicals;
• surface sizes or hydrophobing agents.
The surface strengthening agent commonly used is starch.
This is the most abundant material present in the
formulation, and the starch solution acts as the transport
medium or carrier for the surface size. Nevertheless, it
should be stressed that the type, viscosity, temperature, and
pH of the starch can all affect the amount of surface size
applied, where it ends up in the sheet, and how it performs.
The main sources of starch are potato (farina), maize (corn),
wheat, and tapioca derived from cassava, which is an
important source in hotter regions of the world. The starch
is usually a by-product and so its price and purity depend
on many factors such as agricultural policy and extraction
process. Recently in Europe there has been a reduction in
the availability of potato starch and so maize starch is most
commonly used. However, wheat starch often offers a
cheaper alternative but contains some protein impurities
(residual gluten) which can affect foaming properties and
viscosity control.
Before it can be used at the size press the native or pearl
starch must be converted to modify the viscosity properties
of the starch solution. The starch may be reconverted by
the starch supplier but most mills prefer to make their own
conversion to save costs. The conversion involves breaking
bonds in the large starch molecule and can be done by an
enzyme, thermo mechanical or thermo chemical process.
The conversion may be a continuous or batch process and
selection will depend on cost, viscosity, and solids content
requirements. Whatever starch and conversion process is
chosen it is important to maintain consistent size-press
starch solution properties for efficient application of
surface size. The starches may also be modified chemically
by reacting with other chemical groups onto the converted
starch molecule. The most common derivative starches are
ethylated, acetylated, oxidized or have cationic groups
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added. Acetylated starches give particularly good film-
formation properties to the starch. The advantage of
cationic starches is that they form ionic bonds with the
anionic fibres and fillers and so remain with the fibre
during repulsing. This has been reported to result in at least
a 50% reduction in biological oxygen demand (BOD).
Chemical treatment of the starch increases its cost and so
use of chemically-modified starches must usually be
justified by giving added value to the paper, improving
paper machine run ability or reducing effluent loadings in
the backwater. Although starch is by far the most common
additive at the size press, surface size can be applied
without starch or with an alternative co-agent, such as
polyvinyl alcohol, sodium alginates, or carboxy-methyl
cellulose. These materials are chosen for their good film-
forming properties which bond together fibres at the
surface and fill holes in the paper structure. Another
important property is their viscosity-modifying effect
which influences the pick-up of the size-press mixture. The
surface size can also be applied as part of a coating mix
which then effectively becomes the carrier. This may be a
convenient way to add the size in cases where there is no
separate size press available provided the surface size is
compatible with the coating mix, but generally the size is
less effective when used in this way because it tends to be
within the coating layer and less available for influencing
the surface properties. Specialty chemicals can consist of a
wide range of chemicals for specific end-use applications.
Typically they include materials such as dyes, fluorescent
brightening agents (FBAs) and security chemicals.
The surface sizes or hydrophobing agents can be divided
conveniently into the following categories:
• Alkyl Ketene Dimmer (AKD);
• Rosin-Based Products;
• Synthetic Polymeric Materials;
• Others
Of these the synthetic polymeric materials are the most
important in modern surface sizing. They have been
developed specifically for application at the surface and are
able to produce novel properties in the sheet.
IV. PRINTING PROPERTIES REQUIREMENT
The size press provides the last opportunity to modify the
chemical properties of paper, or prepare it for coating. The
properties to be delivered by the surface size vary greatly
and depend on the end use for which the paper and board is
intended. In some cases the precise physical and chemical
properties required are not well defined, and the end-use
property is specified only by empirical performance tests
such as ink flotation or dust generation after a prolonged
period.
As the surface size is normally used with a carrier,
the properties of the surface size are not discrete and
interactions occur. Two of the more important properties
 Journal of Engineering Research and Studies
for which the surface size is responsible are
hydrophobation and barrier formation. The hydrophobic
groups most commonly used in surface sizes are long-
chain fatty acids and phenyl groups. Long-chain fatty acids
are the familiar hydrophobia in AKD wet-end sizes. They
are also present in the polyurethane micro dispersions
where they can rotate on the polymer backbone and
orientate towards the surface. With the solution and
emulsion polymers phenyl groups derived from the styrene
copolymer introduce the hydrophobic. In the rosin-based
surface sizes biotic acid is used in a similar way to wet-end
sizing. The important feature about surface sizing with
synthetic polymers is that they provide 'instant'
hydrophobation with essentially 100% retention of size.
True film-formation is developed by the copolymers
containing carboxyl groups capable of hydrogen bonding
to form films. However, a type of 'film' can also be
introduced by a polymer distributed across the surface
which flows in the after dryers to form a barrier to the
penetration of oils and grease and which also limits the
migration to the surface of materials internally in the sheet.
In the case of coating, the objective is often to limit the
migration of binders or microcapsules into the sheet.
Because surface sizes are used over a wide range of end-
use applications it is necessary to translate physical
chemical properties such as hydrophobation and film-
formation into end-use performance-related properties such
as printability in fine paper, coating hold-out and gullibility
in recycled grades.
1. Plain fine paper
Plain fine paper consists of uncoated grades usually made
from virgin fibre. A large part of this paper segment is
multipurpose office paper or copier paper which is
produced in a range of qualities. Apart from some
hydrophobicity the main requirements of the sheet are
appearance, especially brightness, smoothness and stiffness,
printability, usually on a range of printing systems, and run
ability through printing machines and photocopiers. These
requirements have become more demanding in recent years
with the trend towards brighter and smoother paper, the
increased use of ink-jet printing, the arrival of faster
printing and copier machines, and in some cases the
introduction of recycled fibre into the sheet. As in most
papermaking activities the end result is usually a
compromise or trade off of properties and treatments to
produce an acceptable end result.
Surface sizing is increasingly used in combination with
some internal sizing to achieve the exacting end-use
properties required. These include:
• Black Text Wicking And Feathering In Ink-Jet
Print (UP);
• UP Color-To-Color Bleed;
• UP Print Density;
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• Toner Adhesion For Copiers And Laser Printers;
• Sheet Feed Through Copiers;
• Lining And Dusting In Offset Printing.
The composition of fine paper varies widely in terms of
filler and fibre type and content, internal size, retention
system and machine type and so it is difficult to generalize
about optimum conditions. A typical European fine paper
might consist of:
• A mixture of long and short fibre, sometimes
including eucalyptus;
• Neutral or alkaline sizing with AKD or alchemy
succinct anhydride (ASA);
• 15%-20% ground calcium carbonate or
precipitated calcium carbonate filler;
• Fluorescent brightening agent (FBA) added
internally and at the surface;
• Starch, surface size and probably some salt
added at the surface.
The choice of starch used is often decided by cost and
availability rather than by performance. Enzyme-converted
maize starch is commonly used, although there are some
examples of low cationic starch and ethoxylated starch in
use. Because a fluorescent brightening agent (FBA) is
usually included in the size-press mixture an anionic
surface size is preferred. A typical sizing specification for
a plain fine paper is a Cobb(60 s) value of 20-25 g m-2 or a
HST value (80% reflectance, 1% formic acid, naphtha
green ink) of 200-300 s, although examples can be found
of harder and softer sized sheets. The HST value is more
sensitive to the effects of the surface treatment. The surface
size usually contributes a relatively small amount to the
sizing property but can have a large effect on the
printability and run ability properties. This makes is
difficult to discuss surface sizes in conventional
papermaking terms.
The requirements and behaviour of the ink-jet systems are
particularly difficult to explain in these terms. These
systems involve a large number of very small alkaline ink
droplets being fired very rapidly (1 droplet every 20-30 us)
at the paper sheet or 'substrate' at which point the definition
and quality of the image is determined. The inks are water-
based but contain a range of surfactants and co solvents to
control the wetting, spreading and penetration into the
sheet. The inks are commonly dye-based but black pigment
inks are now used in some of the current printer systems.
The aim is to produce an image with strong, bright colours
(high print density), good edge acuity (low feathering,
wicking and colour bleed), even print distribution over
heavily printed color areas (low mottle), an ink that dries
quickly preventing set-off to the next sheet (short dry time)
and which does not pass through to the reverse side of the
sheet (low 'show-through' or 'strike-through'). Added to
this, most printer systems have different ink formulations,
 Journal of Engineering Research and Studies
printer head architecture and color management software
systems. It is not surprising then that measurements of
Cobb, HST and air porosity of the sheet have failed to
predict UP performance. The print-paper interactions are
obviously complex and not fully understood which is why
a large amount of research and development is in progress
to understand them better and improve print quality in the
existing and new printer systems which appear on the
market each year. Application of starch at the surface
usually contributes towards increasing the print density but
is not sufficient to give optimum print definition. A surface
size such as a styrene acryl ate emulsion added typically at
1-5 kg t_1 of 25%-35% solids emulsion on paper improves
the print quality by modifying the paper-wetting, spreading
and absorption properties. These are related to the surface
free energy and contact angle of the sheet. Some of the
equipment recently introduced to measure dynamic
changes in penetration, absorption and contact angle offer
better information about the ink-jet behaviour since they
can be used with ink-jet inks and are able to measure
changes in properties over very short time periods.
Future trends are expected to include faster ink-jet printing
systems for the small and home office user. This will mean
that a short drying time will become more critical. Many
attempts have been made to include a small amount (@ 3-5
g m-2) of pigment in the size-press mixture to increase the
absorption capacity at the surface and increase the drying
rate. However, care must be taken not to reduce print
density by this treatment.
2. Multipurpose office paper must be able to perform well
on a range of impact and non-impact printing systems. It is
not sufficient for the paper to give well UP quality if it is
unable to pass well through a photocopier or has poor toner
adhesion properties. Toners are dry powders consisting of
mainly resin and pigment (carbon black), although there
are small amounts of specialty materials which are unique
to the particular printer system. Black toners usually
contain a styrene-acrylic polymer, and so a styrene acryl
ate surface size, because of its similar chemical properties,
usually gives improved toner adhesion properties. Three
types of test are commonly used to assess toner adhesion.
One test is referred to as a 'tape-peel' test in which the
paper sample is printed with a toner ink (either copier or'
laser printer), an adhesive tape is applied to the printed
area and then peeled off under controlled conditions. The
ratio of the print density after tape peel to the original print
density gives the retained print density (RPD); the higher
the RPD the better the toner adhesion. In another test the
paper sample is printed and then folded to simulate a letter
being inserted into an envelope. The width of the crack
along the print gives an indication of the toner adhesion:
the greater the width the lower the toner adhesion. The
third test involves rubbing a paper surface a number of
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times across a toner printed area and either measuring the
mass of toner removed or the decrease in print density of
the printed area.3
The requirements of offset printing must also be satisfied.
A concern of offset printing is the build-up of dust from
the paper sheet on the printing blanket. There seems to be
no satisfactory test method available to measure and
predict this behaviour other than to print a large number of
sheets until the build up of dust makes it necessary to stop
the printer and clean the blanket. Styrene acryl ate
emulsion polymers and polyurethane micro dispersion
surface sizes have both been reported to reduce dusting and
lining.
3. Coated paper and specialties3 As the name suggests,
specialties include a wide range of diverse paper types
which often form niche market segments. One common
feature of these grades is the use of a surface size to form a
barrier on one side of the sheet. Its function may be to stop
the penetration of a compound of the coating mix from
passing through the sheet, as in the case of the
microcapsules applied in the coating mix in the production
of carbonless copy paper; or to stop glue passing to the
reverse side as in the case of one-side coated labels.
Surface sizing is the preferred treatment because the size is
placed at the surface where it is required and the sizing
effect is developed 'instantly'; unlike AKD size which
requires a time to cure. This is important for on-line
coating since the coating treatment then follows directly
after the surface size. In the example of high solids coating
mixes the sizing is required prior to coating to prevent the
water from the coating mix penetrating into the sheet and
preventing an even application of coating on the surface.
The choice of surface size depends very much on the
coating treatment and the end-use application. If very hard
sizing (Cobb(60 s) < 10 g m~2) is required, a polyurethane
surface size can be used without risk of the dusting
problems associated with AKD applied at the surface; this
can also present a high concentration of hydrophobic
groups at the surface. The poly-urethanes are also flexible
polymers, which allows them to resist 'cracking' or
'breaking' during hard calendaring. They are also resistant
to extremes of pH once applied on the sheet, which is
important in some post-treatments such as development of
diazole papers under highly alkaline conditions.
One drawback of the highly hydrophobic surface of the
polyurethanes may be that it reduces the adhesion of glues
and adhesives to the sheet. The styrene acrylates are less
hydrophobic and have good gluing properties. Addition
levels of surface size vary greatly in this market segment.
If a particular specification has to be met then a higher
surface size addition level may be justified in a specialty
market segment.
 Journal of Engineering Research and Studies E-ISSN 0976-7916

4 Recycled grades 2. .Akpabio U.D.,Roberts J.C.’ Alkylketene dimer sizing’

These include paper and board made from recycled fibre. Tappi J.
3. Treatment on wetting dynamics on ink jet,by Tappi
By far the largest market segment is the test-liner and Press
fluting segment where mechanical fibre, typically old 4. Handbook of Print Media, Heidelberg publication
corrugated containers, are recycled without de-inking or an 2001e (Offset printing)
5. The paper Chemistry’ Second Edition by J.C. Roberts,
extensive cleaning procedure. This means the board is
BLACKIE ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL
often produced under conditions contaminated by a high 6. Materials in Printing Processes By L.C. Young, Focal
concentration of anionic trash. In extreme cases internal PressmLondon.
sizing may be completely ineffective. The properties
needed in this segment usually include:
• long-term hydrophobicity (low Cobb(30 min));
• good gullibility of hot melts, cold adhesives or
tapes;
• Satisfactory printability on some surfaces.
Because of the prevailing anionic conditions cationic
surface sizes are usually used because of their excellent
sizing efficiency. Cationic styrene-acryl ate emulsion
products are popular, often used with alum or
polyaluminium chloride. Recycled grades may also include
recycled writing and printing papers in which the fibres are
a mixture of chemical and mechanical types and some de-
inking may have been performed. A particular
characteristic of this grade is the high level of fines in the
stock and the variable amount and type of filler present.
Again, internal sizing may be difficult to achieve and the
variable composition of the stock makes it difficult to
control. However, the main concern is often dusting at the
surface and wicking of print into the fibres because of the
fines and broken fibres present. In this case a surface size
is essential to improve the surface properties and a styrene
acryl ate emulsion or styrene-malefic anhydride solution
polymer may be used.
V. BALANCED SIZING
The final properties of the paper and board are influenced
by the treatment given at the wet end, the surface and in
post-treatments. Although surface sizing gives essentially
100% retention the effect of the surface treatment still
depends on the properties of the base paper entering the
size press. Where the end-use application of the paper
requires good printability, good base-paper properties are
essential to give a good finished product. Surface sizing
should not be regarded as a miracle cure or a way of
covering up deficiencies at the wet end. The most effective
treatment usually involves a good balance between the wet
end and the surface treatment. Combined internal and
surface sizing is recommended to produce optimum paper
properties in a clean and cost-
effective system.6
REFERENCES
1. Mini-Encyclopedia of Papermaking Wet-End
Chemistry Additives and Ingredients, their
Composition, Functions, Strategies for Use, Martin
hubbe, Associate Professor of Wood and Paper Science,
N C State University, m_hubbe@ncsu.edu.

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