Soft Packaging Printing Ink Go Green Road

Packaging printing inks can be divided into gravure inks, letterpress inks and flexographic inks according to the different types of printing plates; according to the different ink main components, they can be divided into solvent inks, alcohol-soluble inks and water-based inks; according to their printed objects Different surface, can be divided into table printing ink and printing ink.

Because plastic films are more difficult to adhere to, the binder used for printing gravure printing inks is generally made from chlorinated polymers. Therefore, in the production, it is necessary to use a strong solvent (such as toluene) to dissolve and adjust the viscosity. The solvent contains aromatic hydrocarbons that are toxic and flammable, harmful to human health and pollute the environment.

In order to meet the requirements of environmental protection regulations, flexible packaging inks continue to develop new systems, such as water-based inks and alcohol-soluble inks. Among them, the water-based ink is a product that meets the requirements of environmental protection, but due to the higher surface tension of water, the ink is difficult to wet and the drying is slow. According to the current state of the art, the standard for flexible packaging inks cannot be fully achieved. Therefore, ink manufacturers have also developed alcohol-soluble inks that are easily accepted by the environment. The use of low-toxic alcohols such as ethanol removed from the VOC list as a solvent can solve the hazards of toluene-based inks to the human body and the environment. In developed countries, alcohol-soluble inks have completely replaced benzene-based inks. Gravure inks are also widely used in China's gravure printing industry, and gradually occupy a major share of the ink market.

In order to reduce the total amount of solvent, it is an important research direction to develop a high-concentration, low-viscosity ink suitable for shallow printing. According to sources from Siegwerk Ink, they are developing the application of Hof Trch ink technology. This patented Hof Tech ink is a solvent-free, solid gravure ink that dissolves before being transferred to a printing plate roll and is expected to be on the market within a few years.