Analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of water-based ink
Date: Jun 09 2023 From: Star Color
The use of water-based inks is now very widespread, but many people still hold a reserved attitude towards water-based inks, such as poor adhesion, insufficient glossiness, and inability to withstand special environments such as high and low temperatures. And what is the fact? Why do developed countries such as Europe and America use water-based ink for printing? In recent years, China has also increased efforts to promote water-based inks. What are the reasons for this? Let's carefully analyze whether water-based ink really has so many drawbacks.
Let's first take a look at the advantages of water-based inks
1. Water-based inks are more environmentally friendly. When it comes to the advantages of water-based inks, it is inevitable that they cannot be separated from environmental protection, and this is also the most important point. Why is water-based inks more environmentally friendly? This needs to start with the formulation of water-based ink. Taking flexographic water-based ink as an example, the main components are Waterborne resins, pigment and water. The content of solvent is so small that it can be ignored. After the cma test, the content of organic solvent (vocs) in Huizhou Zhongzhixing ink is 1%, while the VOCs content of conventional solvent based ink is 25% -35%. If these organic solvents are not treated, they are directly discharged into the atmosphere, It can cause serious pollution to the environment. At the same time, ink does not contain heavy metals and Aromatic hydrocarbon, so the advantages of ink in environmental protection can be said to be very obvious.
Analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of water-based ink
2. Water-based ink is safer
The safety of water-based ink is mainly reflected in several aspects, including production safety, storage safety, and use safety. The vocs content of ink wash itself is extremely low, and a large amount of organic solvents, Aromatic hydrocarbon and other toxic and harmful substances will not volatilize during the production process, which will harm the health of operators. There is no need to worry about major events such as fires and explosions caused by the volatilization of solvents during storage. The surface of items printed with ink will not contain residual VOCs or other harmful substances, which is more evident in some demanding printing processes, such as tobacco and alcohol packaging, food packaging, children's toy packaging, etc.
3. Reduce ink consumption
Compared to solvent based inks, the printing coating amount of water-based inks will be reduced by about 10%. When the printing area remains unchanged, the consumption of water-based inks is 10% less than that of solvent based inks. Moreover, water-based inks are diluted with water and do not require the addition of solvents such as ethanol, which can also reduce printing costs.
Now let's take a look at the shortcomings of water-based ink that are often roast
1. Insufficient adhesion
The adhesion of ink is indeed less than that of solvent based ink, but it is enough to print on paper. There is no problem with the adhesion of ink on paper, tissue, corrugated paper, Kraft paper and other materials. The difference is reflected in some non absorbent substrates, such as plastic film, bopp film, etc., but after corona treatment, the adhesion of ink can be achieved. For some special environments, such as prolonged immersion in water, high temperature and humidity, as well as acid and alkali resistance, it is indeed necessary to strengthen.
Water-based ink printing effect
2. Insufficient glossiness
The glossiness of water-based ink is not as bright as that of oily ink. After all, water-based ink is diluted with water. To solve the problem of water-based ink glossiness, the color concentration of water-based ink can be increased. If it is still not enough, a layer of gloss can be attached to the surface.
3. High temperature resistance
The high temperature resistance of water-based inks can generally reach around 160-200 degrees Celsius, which is not as good as solvent based inks that can reach temperatures of several hundred degrees Celsius, which also limits the range of use of water-based inks.
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