日本造纸工业公司开发出功能材料，名叫矿物混合纤维，具有矿物的特点;使用这个科技，以木浆为基础材料，公司希望生产出类似阻燃墙纸这样的产品

    日本造纸公司（下面简称日纸），开发出一种具有矿物特质的独特功能材料，作法是将矿物和造纸原料纸浆（纤维素纤维）合成在一起。通过这个科技，使用木浆为基础材料，日纸公司就能提供一种具备矿物材料的各种特质的新材料。在普通纸张生产过程中（例如复印纸和新闻纸），使用矿物颗粒来加强纸张的白度，不透明度和其它特性。但是，不可能使用大量的矿物，因为矿物不直接与造纸中的原料-纤维素纤维结合。
 在日纸新研发的新功能材料的制作方法中，不像普通造纸，矿物颗粒和纤维素纤维的合成方法是把矿物颗粒浓附在纤维素纤维的表面（图1）。把它们当成原料使用，就可以生产出矿物含量高达90%的纸张，(图2)。这样，日纸就可以提供兼具矿物，纸和纤维素纤维特点和长处的纸。此外，新型功能材料可以根据需要被制成不同形状，例如湿浆，单张，板（层压），粉等。因此，新型功能材料预计将有助于资源回收可持续型社会的发展。
    日纸为新型功能材料起的名字叫矿物混合纤维，已经为新功能材料以MinerPaTM的名称 申请注册了商标。展望未来， 日纸将致力于开发应用广阔的商业产品， 包括阻燃墙纸，隔板，具有防臭和抗菌成份的厨房纸巾以及带辐射屏蔽效应的建材。
    在“用树木塑造未来”的口号下，日纸会利用通过造纸开发出的技术能力，继续对未来更加美好的生活和文化发展作出贡献。
    上述新混合材料将在2017新功能材料展览会的日纸公司展台展出，展会于2017年2月15-17日在东京big sight 展示中心举办。请参观该展会并充分利用这个机会观看日纸公司的新材料。

Nippon Paper develops functional materials it calls Mineral Hybrid Fiber, with features and characteristics of minerals; using this technology, with woodpulp as basic material, company seeks to develop commercial products like flame-retardant wallpaper
       
Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. (President: Fumio Manoshiro; hereinafter, "NPI") has developed functional materials that have the features and characteristics of minerals through its unique technologies of fixing and compounding particulate minerals and pulp (cellulose fibers), a raw material in paper, with each other. Through this technology, by using wood pulp as the basic material, NPI will be able to provide new materials with the variety of characteristics that minerals contain. In the manufacturing process of ordinary paper, such as copy paper and newsprint, particles of minerals are used to enhance the whiteness, opacity and other features. However, it was not possible to use a large quantity of minerals because minerals do not bond directly with cellulose fibers, a raw material in paper.
In the manufacturing method of the new functional materials that NPI has recently developed, unlike ordinary paper, composites of mineral particles and cellulose fibers are created by densely bonding mineral particles onto the surface of cellulose fibers (Figure 1). By using these as raw materials, it has become possible to manufacture paper with a content ratio of up to 90% minerals (Figure 2). This has enabled NPI to provide new materials that have the characteristics and advantages of both minerals and paper and cellulose fibers. Moreover, the new functional materials are able to be processed into different shapes, such as wet pulp, sheets, boards (laminates) and powder, as required. They are also recycling-friendly because they use wood, which is renewable, as their raw materials. As a result, the new functional materials are expected to contribute to the development of a resource recycling sustainable society.
NPI has named the new functional materials Mineral Hybrid Fiber, and has applied for trademark registration under the trademark, MinerPaTM. Going forward, NPI will seek to develop commercial products in a variety of areas, including flame retardant wallpaper and partition boards, paper towels with deodorizing and antibacterial properties and construction materials with radiation shielding effects.
Under the slogan "Shaping the future with trees," based on the technological capabilities that NPI has developed through papermaking, NPI will continue to contribute to better living and cultural progress in the future.

 The new hybrid materials described above will be exhibited in NPI's exhibition booth at Neo Functional Material 2017 that is scheduled to be held at Tokyo Big Sight from Wednesday, February 15, 2017 to Friday, February 17, 2017. Please visit the exhibition and make the most of this opportunity to see NPI's actual new materials.