Concept and classification of decorative base paper in China

In recent years, with the rapid development of China's real estate and construction decoration industries, the demand for decorative paper widely used in the decoration industry has been increasing. Due to the heavy and costly profiles of solid wood decorative panels, the high consumption of forest resources, and the difficulty in controlling panel patterns, artificial boards are gradually replacing solid wood decorative panels as the mainstream. This provides a broad development space for decorative base paper that can be used as artificial board layers after processing.

In recent years, with the rapid development of China's real estate and construction decoration industries, the demand for decorative paper widely used in the decoration industry has been increasing. Due to the heavy and costly profiles of solid wood decorative panels, the high consumption of forest resources, and the difficulty in controlling panel patterns, artificial boards are gradually replacing solid wood decorative panels as the mainstream. This provides a broad development space for decorative base paper that can be used as artificial board layers after processing.

1、 The concept of decorative base paper

Decorative base paper is an industrial special paper made mainly from high-quality wood pulp and titanium dioxide through special processing techniques. After printing and melamine resin impregnation, it is mainly used for the protective layer paper, surface layer paper, and bottom layer paper of artificial boards such as fiberboard and particleboard. Therefore, the decorative base paper soaked in glue in the artificial board industry is called melamine paper. Various decorative materials made from melamine paper veneered artificial boards have excellent characteristics such as thermal insulation, flame retardancy, no warping, no cracking, and easy cleaning. They have a wide variety of colors, rich and beautiful patterns, bright and beautiful colors, and prominent layering. They are widely used in high-end building decoration, home decoration, furniture and reinforced wood flooring manufacturing, as well as interior decoration of transportation vehicles such as hotels, shopping malls, office buildings, and various entertainment and cultural venues. They are a fashionable and environmentally friendly material that replaces plastic and wood with paper.

2、 Specific classification of decorative base paper

Decorative base paper can be divided into solid color decorative base paper, printable decorative base paper, surface wear-resistant base paper, balanced base paper, and edge banding base paper according to their application characteristics and purposes.

(1) Plain decorative base paper

Plain colored decorative base paper is a variety of single color decorative base paper used for veneer of artificial boards, which must be resistant to high temperature and high pressure and have high technical content. After immersion, it can be directly used as a decorative surface for various artificial boards such as medium density fiberboard and particleboard, with bright and bright colors and prominent layering, without the need for spray painting. The boards made with it do not warp, crack, are easy to clean, have low cost, are green and environmentally friendly, and have unparalleled advantages over solid wood.

(2) Printable decorative base paper

After printing various patterns on the printable base paper, it can be used to make laminated veneers for fireproof boards and reinforced wood floors. This product has a soft touch, small variation in banner weight, stable weight, consistent color, high surface smoothness, and good printability. The printed pattern is clear and has a strong sense of depth and dimensionality.

(3) Surface wear-resistant base paper

Surface wear-resistant base paper is a decorative base paper filled with aluminum oxide (Al2O3) wear-resistant material. After impregnation with melamine resin, it is mainly used for surface protection of decorative panels such as reinforced wood flooring and high-end artificial board fireproof board. It is a key material that determines the service life of reinforced wood flooring.

(4) Balanced base paper

After being impregnated with melamine resin, the balanced base paper is pressed onto the bottom layer of reinforced wood flooring after high-temperature and high-pressure treatment. It is used to balance the stress of the board, and its main function is to stabilize the floor, prevent warping and deformation, and ensure the flatness of the floor. In addition, it can effectively prevent water from seeping into the back of the floor, improving the moisture-proof performance of the product.

(5) Edge banding decorative base paper

The edge sealing material, which is cut into rolls after printing, melamine resin impregnation, and drying, can be used for furniture edge sealing of various artificial board cross-sections such as particleboard, MDF, particleboard, plywood, etc. Compared with other decorative base papers, edge banding base paper has better smoothness, good permeability, stable expansion coefficient, and high weight characteristics. However, due to the small usage of this product, the market demand is not high.

3、 The Development History of China's Decorative Paper Industry

In China, decorative base paper is an emerging specialty paper industry. The earliest production of decorative paper was in 1973 at Shanghai Qinfeng Paper Mill, which was supplied to Shanghai Timber (Yangtze Timber) Factory for the production of fireproof boards. Due to the initial stage of production and technology, rapid development has not been achieved. In the late 1980s, the application technology of artificial board veneer entered China, and so far it has only had a development history of more than 20 years. At the end of the 20th century, the production technology of domestic decorative base paper became increasingly mature, and domestic decorative base paper began to achieve industrialization, gradually replacing European and American decorative base paper products, greatly reducing the production cost of China's decorative manufacturing industry, and thus rapidly developing.

Since the 1990s, the rapid development of China's real estate and construction decoration industries has driven the rapid rise of the decorative paper industry. Due to the backward technological level of domestic enterprises, the domestic market is mainly occupied by decorative paper production enterprises in Western Europe and the United States. Since the end of the 20th century, under continuous competition with foreign companies and their own continuous research and development efforts, a group of private enterprises in China that have mastered the production technology of decorative base paper have widely borrowed advanced experience and practices from foreign peers in product research and development, business management, and market development. The entire decorative base paper industry and deep processing industry have achieved extraordinary development, from decorative base paper production, gravure printing, impregnation processing, to high and low-pressure artificial board heat sealing veneer technology. The quality and technical level of decorative base paper products have also rapidly improved, and domestic decorative base paper production enterprises have been rapidly developing and growing.