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When conversations turn to exciting emerging technologies, one of the last topics that people will expect to come up is toner. When most people think of toner, they think of messy black powder.

However, a new technology from Xerox has some pretty interesting implications for toner and printing overall.

Emulsion Aggregation, or EA, is a nanotechnoloy based system that changes the way toner is produced and used. Rather than the grinding of existing materials process that is used for traditional toner, EA toner is chemically grown to specific micron sized particles. This procedure can reduce costs and environmental impact of toner for both producers and users.

I recently spoke to Mary Fromm, Manager, World Wide Toner Manufacturing, for Xerox, about a new full scale plant that Xerox is launching to produce EA toner, and also asked her about the specific technogical aspects of EA toner.