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Additional Carbonless Forms Information

Carbonless copy paper, non-carbon copy paper, or NCR paper is an alternative to carbon paper, used to make a copy of an original, handwritten (or mechanically typed) document without the use of any electronics. The process was invented by chemists Lowell Schleicher and Barry Green, working for the NCR Corporation, as a biodegradable, stain-free alternative to carbon paper. Early product literature piggybacked on NCR's corporate name by calling the paper No Carbon Required paper.

Carbonless copy paper works in a fairly simple way. It consists of sheets of paper that are coated with micro-encapsulated dye or ink and/or a reactive clay.

The back of the first sheet is coated with micro-encapsulated dye. The lowermost sheet is coated on the top surface with a clay that quickly reacts with the dye to form a permanent mark. Any intermediate sheets are coated with clay on top and dye on the bottom.

When someone writes on the sheets, the pressure from the point of the writing instrument causes the micro-capsules to break and spill their dye. Since the capsules are so small, the print obtained is very accurate.

Similarly, the paper can be used in dot-matrix and impact printers, where the striking head releases dye to interact with the clay.

Carbonless copy paper was also available in a self-contained version that had both the ink and the clay on the same side of the paper.

The first dye used commercially in this application was crystal violet lactone, which is still widely used today. Other dyes and supporting chemicals used are PTSMH (p-toluene sulfinate of Michler's hydrol), TMA (trimellitic anhydride), phenol-formaldehyde resins, azo dyes, DIPN (diisopropyl naphthalenes), formaldehyde isocyanates, hydrocarbon-based solvents, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polyoxypropylene diamine, epoxy resins, aliphatic isocyanates, Bisphenol A, diethylene triamine, and others.