WATER-BASED INK

Core categories:

1. Classification by water-based resin type:

• Acrylic water-based inks: strong adhesion, vibrant colors, and moderate cost. Suitable substrates include paper, cardboard, and plastic films (such as BOPP and PET).

• Polyurethane water-based inks: abrasion resistant, solvent resistant, and flexible. Suitable substrates include synthetic leather, non-woven fabrics, and flexible plastic packaging.

• Polyamide-based water-based inks: high gloss and low-temperature resistance. Suitable substrates include video packaging paper and aluminum foil composite paper.

• Water-based UV inks: require UV curing, cure quickly, and have excellent weather resistance. Suitable substrates include high-end packaging and label printing.

2. Classified by printing method:

• Water-based inks for flexographic printing: low viscosity and good fluidity, suitable for ink transfer on anilox rollers of flexographic printing presses, and commonly used in food packaging and carton printing.

• Water-based gravure printing ink: medium viscosity, suitable for ink transfer in the grooves of gravure printing machines, used for printing on plastic films and composite films.

• Offset water-based inks: High viscosity and strong thixotropy, requiring the use of dampening solution, and are used for paper-based offset printing products.

Features:

Advantages

1. Environmentally friendly and safe: It uses water as a solvent, has extremely low VOC emissions, and has no irritating odor.

2. Cost controllable: Water is much cheaper than organic solvents, and water can be used directly when cleaning equipment, reducing cleaning costs and waste liquid treatment costs.

3. Wide range of applications: It can print on various substrates such as paper, cardboard, plastic, metal foil, and non-woven fabric, and is compatible with mainstream printing methods such as flexographic printing, gravure printing, and offset printing.

Limitation

1. Slow drying speed: Drying equipment is required, otherwise the printed materials will stick together.

2. Poor water resistance: Water-based inks without added water-resistant additives tend to soften and fade when exposed to water after curing, requiring targeted formula optimization.

3. Sensitive to substrate: It has weak adhesion to non-polar plastics (such as PE, PP), and requires corona treatment of the substrate or the addition of adhesion promoters.

Typical application scenarios

1. Packaging and printing: food packaging bags, beverages, corrugated cardboard boxes, express delivery bags, daily chemical products, etc.

2. Label printing: self-adhesive labels, thermal labels, anti-counterfeiting labels.

3. Special printing: Non-woven fabric printing (shopping bags, mask packaging), leather printing, glass surface printing.

Storage requirements and usage precautions

I. Storage requirements

1. Place in a well-ventilated, cool place, with the temperature controlled between 5-35°C. Avoid direct sunlight and high-temperature exposure to prevent ink separation and deterioration.

2. It needs to be sealed to prevent moisture evaporation from increasing the viscosity of the ink. The shelf life is generally 6-12 months.

3. If slight stratification occurs, it can be used normally after stirring evenly. If severe clumping occurs, it should not be used.

II. Precautions for Use

1. Before printing, the ink viscosity needs to be adjusted according to the substrate: it can be diluted directly with water or a special ink thinner can be added. Organic solvents are strictly prohibited from being added.

2. When cleaning printing equipment, you can use clean water to clean the ink rollers and ink troughs. For stubborn ink stains, you can use a special water-based cleaning agent.

3. The humidity of the printing environment needs to be controlled (40%-60% is recommended). Too high humidity will prolong the drying time, while too low humidity will easily generate static electricity.

4. For plastic substrates such as PE and PP, perform corona treatment first to improve ink adhesion.