UV/EB Printing Inks: Challenges and Opportunities Coexist (I)

In recent years, with the continuous improvement of technology and the increase in market demand, radiation-curing inks have achieved rapid development in Europe. Especially in the packaging field, UV/EB printing inks, typical representatives of radiation curing inks, have been widely used. It has improved the quality of printed products and increased the brand's popularity.

The so-called UV / EB ink, is the use of UV curing or electron beam energy curing ink. Compared with traditional drying inks, it has some unique features: First, UV/EB inks have fast curing speed and high production efficiency. Generally, they can be completely dried and fixed on the surface of the substrate in 1/10 seconds. Second, After the UV ink is printed, the gloss of the printed product is very high, and the surface is even and uniform. Thirdly, the printed material obtained by printing with radiation-curable ink has strong resistance; Fourth, UV/ EB inks do not contain organic volatiles (VOCs) and are more environmentally friendly. Fifth, energy-curable inks are less irritating to human skin and are beneficial to the health of workers. Finally, the curing process saves energy.

Despite this, the widespread application of UV/EB inks in printing will take some time. The biggest challenge comes from the technical aspects, including ink manufacturers, equipment manufacturers, and suppliers of chemical materials such as surface additives. The development of technology. Specifically, the problems of UV inks are mainly manifested in issues such as odor, substrate adhesion, high-speed production, and the cost most considered by the printing service providers. In fact, these problems have been affecting the development of UV inks since they were first applied in the printing field in the 1970s, and they still plague the entire industry.

Of course, once the problem is solved, UV inks will replace water-based inks in certain areas and become the most environmentally friendly and durable ink. Some people say that with the EU's legislative restrictions on VOCs, the use of solvent-based ink has a certain degree of restriction, water-based ink to use this good time to enter the considerable market, and gradually become the new darling of the printing industry. However, printers are increasingly dissatisfied with water-based inks because their quality has not yet reached their expectations. At the same time, suppliers in various fields, such as inks, equipment, and raw and auxiliary materials products, have been working together to solve problems related to UV/EB systems. Fortunately, some technologies have also been improved and developed to make radiation curing more efficient and less costly.

The status quo technological improvement has made us confident that the data shows that at present, the percentage of radiation-curable inks in the total printing ink is less than 10%. This is mainly because it has more difficulties in the promotion and application of offset printing and narrow-width rotary flexo printing. Advantage. According to data analysis provided by Pira, a British packaging consulting company, in the area of ​​European packaging printing, UV/EB inks account for about 65% of the total sales of offset inks, which is equivalent to about half of the total sales of UV/EB inks in the entire packaging field.

For UV flexo inks, 80%-90% are used for packaging printing, the vast majority of which is used for label printing. In the printing process of gravure printing, digital printing and screen printing, the application of UV/EB ink is not satisfactory, and the market share is relatively low. However, with the continuous breakthrough of new technologies, especially the improvement of ink adhesion, UV/EB inks have also begun to develop steadily in the original, less promising areas.

In the improvement of ink adhesion, Eltex, a professional company dedicated to static control, has made great contributions. At present, professional systems have been successfully developed to offset the adverse effects of static electricity in print production. For example, they have increased the effectiveness of UV inks in sheetfed and web offset press applications and reduced production costs by reducing the need for photoinitiators and reducing the inhibition of oxygen on the surface of printed substrates. The biggest innovation of the Eltex system is that it requires less photoinitiator than many UV systems: its demand is only 1%-3%, and some systems are as high as 10%. It is reported that Eltex also applied innovative curing technology to the field of gravure printing. In this field, this new curing technology ensures that the UV coating of the magazine cover is completed on the gravure printing unit without the need to resort to an off-set thermosetting offset press. At the same time, the speed of UV coating can be coordinated with printing speeds of 420 meters/hour or 25,000 printing/hour.

A sales manager at Eltex, who once described at a conference organized by the European Gravure Association, said: “Publishing and printing is a potential area of ​​development for radiation-curable inks because of the lacquer of magazines (especially covers) and brochures. Process production is a development trend. In addition, the application of new curing technologies in packaging and other fields has also enhanced the ability of UV inks to be used under harsh environmental conditions."

For this improvement, a technical official of the European Gravure Association also expressed encouragement: “Eltex's improvement of the curing technology has been welcomed and paid attention to in the gravure field. Especially in the gravure of packaging, UV ink has obtained further Development and wider application At present, many brand owners are recommending that printing service providers use UV inks in packaging printing production to create a powerful visual impact effect, which in turn will contribute to brand marketing and construction. ”