Apresentado por

Décio Fernandes Lima

BASF S.A.
Water-based Binders for Flexible Pkg. Inks
Agenda

1. European market information

2. Current situation on lamination inks

3. New developments on water-based lamination

4. Current situation on surface-print inks

5. New developments on water-based s/p inks

6. Conclusions

7. Eco-efficiency

8. Questions
Water-based binders for Flexible Pkg. Inks
Market Information
Total European Liquid Ink Market

Flexible Packaging 49,7 50,3 Paper and Board

4.5 0.5 2.0 8.0

95.0 90.0
solvent-based water-based UV solvent-based water-based UV
Printing & Packaging – Europe
Unmet Needs / Development Drivers
Compliance / Safety Performance / Effect
Food contact
Resistance properties
Safety and health protection

Explosion safety Adhesion on flexible films

Carbon Footprint Lamination bond strength

Sustainable raw materials
Resolubility
Multi purpose inks
Solvent emission control
Print quality
Lower energy consumption Colour strength

Opacity

Material saving
Reduced coatingweigths

Capital investment saving

Printing speed

Cost / Efficiency
Flexible Packaging Application Areas
Surface print and lamination inks

Surface print PE
Surface print PE Heavy-duty
Low- /medium-duty Surface Print OPP

Surface print

Flexible Packaging
Application Areas

Lamination

Reverse Print OPP Reverse Print Nylon, PET

Low-duty lamination Heavy-duty lamination
Reverse Print OPP, PET
Medium-duty lamination
Lamination Ink Market
Current Situation
 Lamination market is currently covered for 99% by solvent-based ink
Typical solvent-based lamination inks
NC / Thermoplastic PU ink General purpose ink, for low-, medium-duty lamination
E PVB / Adhesion promotor ink Medium-duty lamination ink, flexo & gravure
V PVC ink Heavy-duty lamination ink, gravure only
O NC / Elastomeric PU ink More universal ink, for medium-duty lamination
L Elastomeric PU ink Universal lamination ink, flexo & gravure
U
T First generation water-based lamination inks
I Waterbased PUD ink General purpose ink, for low-, medium-duty lamination
O + Good lamination bonstrength (OPP, PET)
N - Poor compatibility with various Pigment Concentrates
- Moderate resolubility / printability (substrate wetting)
- High price
Lamination Inks
Key Parameters

Print Related Properties Physical Properties

 Printability in fulltone and halftone  Adhesion to the substrate
 Resolubility  Good Lamination bondstrength
 High colour strength  on different substrates (OPP, PET)
 Transparancy  before and after heatseal
 Ink stability  with different adhesives
 Price  Blocking resistance
New Development Product
Resolubility
Good Bad
Resolubility Resolubility

Before stop

After 20 prints

After 40 prints

After 200 prints

New Development Product
Adhesion & Lamination Bondstrength

Before lamination After lamination

Ink should have good adhesion Lamination construction should have good
to the substrate bondstrength and should not show ink
transfer
Coex-OPP Polyester
PET//LDPE laminate

A  High B  Low
A Bondstrength Bondstrength
d
h
5% Transf.
e 95% Transf.
s
i
o
n
Printed PET substrate

A B A B Interaction Ink/Adhesive  bondstrength

New Development Product
Lamination Bondstrength

Laser Confocal Scanning Microscopy:

Lamination Bondstrength
F
12µm PET O
R
2µm Ink C
E
2µm Adhesive
Polyester
 No diffusion of adhesive into ink
50µm LDPE Colour
 No/Low Lamination Bondstrength
White

12µm PET Adhesive

1µm Ink LDPE

F
3µm Adhesive O
R
 Diffusion of adhesive into ink 50µm LDPE C
E
 Good Lamination Bondstrength

 Adhesive penetration into the inklayer(s) important for bondstrength

New Development Product
Blocking Resistance
 Blocking resistance:
Specac lab press
● In general, inks based on low Tg emulsions show
better lamination bondstrength compared to inks
based higher Tg emulsions
● Fine-tune the “softness” of the ink in relation to
the blocking resistance.

Blocking test:
5Ton/30°C/24hrs.

No blocking Blocking
New Development Product
Final Product Properties
 Rheology Controlled emulsion, for lamination applications
Patented novel technology platform

● Showing very good resolubility

● Showing good ink stability in combination with
various pigment concentrates in the market
● Good OPP and PET lamination bondstrength
● Blocking free
● Designed for combination water-based colours + water-based white
● Also possible: solvent-based colours + water-based white

 Print trials on Development Product

New Development Product
Flexo Print trials
 Inks were formulated Comexi
(CMYK + backing white)
8 colour CI press
 Print trials done on W&H Soloflex
 Print trials done at Comexi 8 colour CI press
 Reverse print OPP (MB400) & PET (Mylar 813)
 100% Colour, 200% Colour, with/without white
 Fulltone, fine lines and fine halftones
 Printspeed 200 m/min

 Good print quality and very good resolubility

 Anilox and plate cleaning very easy
New Development Product
Lamination Trials
 Printed substrate laminated on: Comexi Nexus EVO s/f laminator

 Nordmeccanica s/f laminator

 Comexi Nexus s/f laminator
 Adhesive used: 2K PUR, solventfree
 Coatingweigth: 2.2 g/m2 dry
 Good processing on laminator
 OPP/OPP, OPP/PE, PET/PE
laminations made
 After 7 and 14 days curing,
bondstrength measurements
New Development Product
Lamination Bondstrength

Lamination Bondstrength (N/15mm)

Colour White OPP//OPP PET//LDPE
- Heatseal + Heatseal - Heatseal + Heatseal
Colour 3.0 3.0 2.0 2.0
White 3.0 3.0 2.5 2.5
Colour White 2.5 2.5 1.5 1.5

Lamination bondstrength in N/15mm

(3.0 N/15mm = approx. 520 gf/in)
Adhesive: 2K PUR solventfree, 2.2 gsm dry
Heatseal conditions: 140°C/400N/1sec.

 Lamination results meet market requirements

Surface Print Ink Market (flexible pkg.)
Current Situation
 Surface print market is currently covered for 90% by solvent-based ink

Typical solvent-based surface print inks (flexible pkg.)

NC / Plasticizer General purpose ink, for low performance PE
E
NC / Polyamide Surface print PE, for medium / heavy duty inks
V
NC / Thermoplastic PU Surface print PE & OPP, for flexible packaging
O
L
U First generation water-based inks for surface print (flexible pkg.)
T Waterbased acrylic ink Suitable for surface print PE, for carrierbags, etc.
I (self crosslinking technology) + Very good resolubility, printability
O + Good physical properties on PE
N + Good general physical properties on OPP
- Insufficient heatseal resistance on OPP
- Drying speed of surface print white
Surface Print Inks
Key Parameters

Print Related Properties Physical Properties

 Printability in fulltone and halftone  Adhesion to the substrate

 Resolubility  Good physical properties
 High colour strength / Opacity  scratch-, wrinkle resistance
 Drying speed  water resistance
 Ink stability  heatseal resistance
 Price  blocking resistance
 On various substrates (PE, OPP)
New Development Product
Flexo print trial at DFTA (F&K)
Surface Print coex-OPP (30MB400) Trial design: Text & Block
S/B W/B S/B White W/B White
White White + S/B Col. + S/B Col.
Printability White +/- + (!) n.a. n.a.
(100  500 m/min)
Overprintability White n.a. n.a. std > std
Adhesion + + + +
Scratch resistance + + + +
Wrinkle resistance -dry + + + +
-wet + + + +
Heatseal resistance + + + +
(180°C)
Blocking resistance + + + +
Gloss + ++ + ++
Solvent retention std 0 std < std
Resolubility std < std n.a. n.a.
New Development Product
Ink usage water-based vs solvent-based white
Solvent-based White Water-based White

Ink Viscosity (undiluted) DIN4 27” 23”

Ink Solids (undiluted) 48.5% 59.4%

Dilution 100:17 100:2

(EtOH/EtAc=80/20) (Water)
Ink Viscosity (diluted) DIN4 20” 20”

Ink Solids (diluted) 41.5% 58.2%

Application Dry 1.5 g/m2 1.5 g/m2

Wet 3.6 g/m2 2.6 g/m2
Ink usage 3.1 g/m2 Ink 2.5 g/m2 Ink
Solvent usage 0.5 g/m2 Solvent 0.1 g/m2 Water

 20% Less Ink Usage (less ink purchase)

 No Dilution Solvent Usage (less solvent purchase)
Conclusions

New generation water-based lamination inks, showing:

 Good resolubility / printability
 Good lamination bondstrength on OPP and PET lamination
 Good blocking resistance

New generation water-based surface print white, showing:

 Good resolubility / printability
 Faster drying and suitable for high speed printing
 Very good visual appearance (gloss, opacity)
 Very good physical properties on OPP and PE
 Overprintable with both s/b or w/b colours
 No solvent retention
European Eco-Efficiency Analysis
Solvent-based vs Water-based printing

0.0
environmental impact (norm.)
User Benefit:

Printing 1000m2 of
LDPE Film Water-based
1.0

40% image coverage, Solvent-based

4-station press,
Europe.

2.0
2.0 1.0 0.0
costs (norm.)
Obrigado
APRESENTADO POR

Décio Fernandes Lima

BASF S.A.
decio.lima@basf.com
Cel. +55 11 99605-2102