Aquacure Hybrid Ink Technology for Digital Printing

Transcription

1 Aquacure Hybrid Ink Technology for Digital Printing Phil Jackman working for you.

2 Who are SunJet? SunJet is the business unit responsible for digital within Sun Chemical globally SunJet has stated aim to be the major supplier of ink to packaging, graphics, publication and industrial markets SunJet has pioneered technology in UV inkjet since 1990 s SunJet has been an OEM ink partner in wide format since 2000 / 2001 OEM channel is key to strategy Technology and supply partnerships are the foundation Integrity is key to partnership 2

3 Corrugated Board Printing Inkjet Ink Choices = water based (aqueous) or UV curing? 3

4 Aqueous or UV or other? AQUEOUS - UV CURING Health and Safety Food Packaging Environmental Film Properties Gloss / Appearance Print Head Reliability More than 40% of corrugated packaging is used to package food products, source FEFCO 4

5 Introduction to Aquacure Aquacure is a functional aqueous technology, combining water-based and UV curing technology. The water component delivers, The feel, low film weight and very low odour Improved health and safety and environmental profile The UV component delivers, Media versatility Durability Superior jetting sustainability Aquacure can be tailored for use in various water compatible Piezo DOD printheads The drying arrangement on the printer requires both heat and a low powered UV light source. The primary markets for Aquacure will be carton board, corrugated, graphics and flexible packaging 5

6 What is the background to Aquacure? Aquacure technology builds upon Sun Chemical s leadership in aqueous energy curable inks WetFlex WetFlex was developed for flexo printing of packaging and incorporated aqueous energy curable dispersion technology 10 years plus of technology development Fundamental patented technology for liquid and inkjet inks well established Additional patenting of long wavelength sensitisation PI s for aqueous inks now also established for inkjet to accommodate LED curing Aquacure inks contain: 70-90% water Low level of co-solvent humectant UV curable resins/monomers Photoinitiators, sensitizers Pigment/dispersant Additives 6

7 What does this mean practically? It s a truly functional aqueous technology It requires a dual cure system both heat and UV / EB cure Offers good head sustainability Excellent re-solubility Significant reduction in product hazard labelling Low film weights Very low print odour 7

8 So how do we cure it? The new functional aqueous technology must be cured with the following mechanism to produce robust films: If the functional aqueous ink is exposed to UV curing before it is fully dry then a robust ink film will not be produced. 8

9 Why dry before cure? UV Reactive Molecules separated by large distances due to dilution with water Removal of water causes UV reactive molecules to coalesce together UV light exposure cause cross linking of molecules to occur UV Reactive Molecules = Cross-links formed by UV reaction = Media Media Media IR Drying UV Cure 9

10 Image quality - thermal pinning To produce quality images the hybrid ink must be thermally pinned. This prevents the ink droplets from combining and reticulating. Not thermally pinned Thermally pinned It is recommended that infrared lamps are installed on the moving carriage or shortly after the printheads in single pass in order to fix the drops as they land and prevent reticulation 10

11 Potential System Design Single Pass Water vapour to extraction CMYK Printheads Print must be dry prior to UV exposure UV dose <100mJ/cm2 Drier (Air/IR) UV Finishing Interstation IR Drying for spot control? Print Direction 11

12 So why Aquacure It looks and feels like an analogue print Lower film weight on final print (10-30% of the thickness of a standard 100% solids UV-curing ink). Prints can thus be around 1-2 microns. Extended colour gamut Improved health and safety profile and product labelling, since materials of higher molecular weight can be used due to the diluting power of the volatile component Low migration capability; suitability for food packaging Very low odour Better environmental profile than solvent or 100% solids UV due to:- low VOC and less consumption of material per square meter of print. Renewable sources 12

13 Aquacure - Market focused Corrugated board Ideally suited in some respects due to absorption reducing required evaporation Existing Flatbed machines can serve this market (with dryer modifications) Single pass machines will benefit from head reliability Suitable for food packaging Ink build and general properties allow for improvement over existing UV chemistry with respect to, Odour Feel Resistance Folding. Aquacure the enabling functional aqueous inkjet 13

14 THANK YOU We welcome the opportunity to discuss in person: Phil Jackman Product Manager Peter Saunders Business Director 14