Where is the environmental protection of water-based ink?

Printing ink is a paste-like colloid composed of pigments, binders, fillers and other components evenly mixed

Main types of ink

To meet environmental protection requirements, the ink composition should be changed first

Environmentally friendly ink is the use of environmentally friendly materials to prepare a new type of ink

Depending on whether an ink is an environmentally friendly ink, the following points should generally be considered:

Heavy metal content

This concept was first proposed by Germany.

Aromatic hydrocarbon solvent

Mainly refers to toluene, xylene, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and derivatives thereof

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)

There are many kinds of it, such as alcohol, ester, ether, ketone, mineral oil and so on

At present, the main environmentally friendly inks include water-based ink, UV ink, water-based UV ink and high-temperature glass ink

Water-based ink

Compared with solvent-based inks, water-based inks have improved environmental performance

Due to the high degree of difficulty required, relatively speaking, the product quality will be excellent

Ultraviolet curing (UV) ink

Ultraviolet curing (UV) ink refers to an ink that uses ultraviolet light of different wavelengths and energy to make the ink film and dry under ultraviolet light
.

UV ink does not contain volatile organic compounds.
From this point of view, it is a big step forward and is safer than water-based inks
.
But its drying is achieved by ultraviolet light
.
Like water-based inks, water-based UV inks have a small amount of volatile organic solvents.
Compared with ordinary UV offset printing inks, their environmental performance is even worse
.

Compared with water-based inks, UV inks have the following advantages: (1) fast drying speed and low energy consumption; (2) good gloss and bright colors; (3) water resistance, solvent resistance, and good abrasion resistance
.

Water-based UV ink

Water-based UV ink is a new type of environmentally friendly ink prepared from prepolymer (water-based photocurable resin), photoinitiator, pigment, amine substance, water, cosolvent and other additives
.
Mainly used in packaging and printing of food, medicine, beverage, tobacco and alcohol, and daily necessities in contact with the human body
.

The biggest difference between water-based UV ink and ordinary UV ink is that water is used as a solvent instead of monomer diluent.
This fundamentally solves the irritation caused by contact with the human body when monomer diluent is used.
Even calcium causes skin allergies.
If it causes certain harm to the human body, it has a greater advantage in environmental protection
.

High temperature glass ink

High temperature glass ink, also known as high temperature ink, tempered glass ink
.
Used in glass tempering and hot bending process
.

Common inks are now collectively referred to as low-temperature inks
.
The temperature will not be higher than 100 degrees
.
However, due to the different requirements of the glass itself, the temperature is also strictly controlled
.

High temperature glass ink is mainly composed of high temperature flux (glass powder) and pigment
.
After being sintered at a high temperature of 500~720℃, it is melted and bonded to the glass surface
.
In terms of adhesion, weather resistance, etc.
, it is far superior to low-temperature inks
.
Therefore, high-temperature inks are more suitable for glass craft products that are silk-screened and then tempered
.

However, the birth of this product is a good turning point for the glass industry and the ink industry
.

Little details of life

Although the environmental protection of ink is constantly improving, only by paying attention to or even changing living habits can we completely get rid of the pollution from ink
.

Since the solvent in the ink volatilizes, the pigments, resins and additives left in the printed matter are mainly pigments, resins and additives.
If the printed matter is used for food and pharmaceutical packaging, it is best not to directly contact the food
.
Because of the oil, alcohol and ester in food (in wine and spices), the resin in the ink may be dissolved, especially the solvent-based, water-based, and other volatile and dry inks are more likely to be re-dissolved
.