Modifiers and Additives

ADDITIVES AND MODIFIERS

Additives and modifiers are used in printing inks to “dial in” the characteristics of the
ink to make it more suitable for the job at hand. Ink modifiers are used to change
the consistency and viscosity of ink, and for mixing up your own inks with dry
pigments.
 One of the prime properties that can
be altered is the solubility or
compatibility of the resin with

The resin concentration of an ink

increases dramatically at the moment of
printing as distillate is lost from the ink
to the paper.
 As with all lithographic inks, tin-printing inks
are restricted to the use of solvents of low
solvency power.
 petroleum distillate is
the main reducer used, since it is
sufficiently high boiling to remain in the
ink on the press, yet readily evaporates in
the oven.
 Bridging solvents can be added at up
to 5% where necessary, whereas the
petroleum distillate will be present at
levels typically in the range ,
including any distillate which may be
present in the alkyd, to improve handling
properties.
 Two different distillate grades of zero
aromatic content may differ substantially
in the proportions of naphthenic and
olefinic unsaturates present.
 Example
SCRIPTANE: PRINTING INK
DISTILLATES

Technical advantages of the SCRIPTANE® printing range:

• Narrow boiling ranges offering total evaporation control and press

stability
• Good balance between solvent power (dissolution of resins),
solvent release and ink cohesion
• Excellent consistency of quality due to the controlled
manufacturing process
• Odorless, colourless
• Excellent UV / long term stability
WAXES
• Waxes provide physical attributes such as rub/scuff resistance,
water/solvent or grease resistance and more. Wax can also influence
the coefficient of friction to control slip resistance.
• In the ink industry both natural and synthetic waxes are used. Waxes
are supplied as micronized stir-in powders, oil/varnish compounds, oil
dispersion for sheet fed and heat set inks, water dispersion, water
based flexo/gravure. Typically waxes are used at less than 5% w/w
however certain emulsions /dispersion additives can contain a much
higher percentage of wax.
Types of Wax
• Polyethylene Wax. These
waxes have a molecular
weight of 500-6000 in
either high or low density.
(Acculin is high density
with a MW 500-3000).
They are utilized in all
major ink types and
supplied as dry
(micronized), oil.
• Paraffin Wax. Paraffin wax
provides good moisture
barrier properties but needs
to be used cautiously for
overprinted or coating after
drying by forming a low
energy surface.
• UV Curable Wax. This unique wax
has been designed to have cross-
linking properties for UV curable
inks. Wax help to impart
adhesion and improves imaging
of inks. By designing a molecule
that has a high degree of un-
saturation it now possible to
incorporate the benefits of a wax
into a UV ink matrix.
Waxes used as an additives to:
• Change surface tension
• Improve drying process
• Structure and cohesion
• Suppress migration
Waxes provide:
• Good compatibility with most
printing methods
• Temperature stability; sharp
melting range
• Solubility in different solvent
systems
Sources
• Wax sources include bees, plants such as jojoba (Simmondsia
chinensis) and carnauba palm (Copernicia cerifera), and sheep, whose
wool contains the wax lanolin.
ANTI-SKINNING AGENTS
 ANTI-SKINNING AGENTS
• added to prevent unintended skinning on paints
and printing inks
• preventing skin formation might range from
preventing in-can skinning during storage in closed
container to preventing the ink from drying in the
press duct.
 ANTI-SKINNING AGENTS
• In the printing inks where duct stability is the issue
the non-volatile hydroquinone is used to a large
extent.
• Only very small amounts of anti-skinning agents are
needed to prevent skin formation.
• less than 1% of the total formulation is necessary
 FUNCTIONS OF ANTI-SKINNING
AGENTS
• prevent the cross-linking from taking place, for
which reason the drying of the coating is stopped
• form complexes with the primary drier metal and
hereby influence the activity of the drier system
• The activity of anti-skinning agents should preferably
come to an end immediately after application of
the coating
 TYPES OF SKINNING AGENTS
• Volatile anti-skinning agents
• Only effective where atmospheric contact is
restricted, for which reason they are mainly used for
preventing skinning in closed containers.
• evaporate shortly after application having little or
no effect on the drying of the coating.
 TYPES OF SKINNING AGENTS
• Non-volatile anti-skinning agents (antioxidants)
• can either be substituted phenolics or quinines
• mainly used in printing inks
• an ink containing a strong antioxidant will take
longer to dry than if the antioxidant was not
present.
What is an extender?
● a white transparent, or semi-
transparent, component whose
purpose is to reduce the cost of the
ink, by increasing the area covered
by a given weight of pigment (paint
and inks).
Uses of Extenders
● reduce the cost of the ink
● can reduce the colour strength of the ink without adding any
white colour to it
● can be used to adjust the ink's consistency and viscosity
● increase adhesive properties of paints
● improve film roughness
● improve paint bulking
● improve paint film hardness
 ● alumina

● carbonate

● silicate

● kaolin
Examples of
● talc
Extenders ● silica

● mica

● barytes
Extenders are typically white
inorganic solids. Their
transparency in inks is
frequently due to their
refractive indices being similar
to the ink, as opposed to
opaque pigments, which are
generally substantially higher.
DRIERS
2
6
 FUNCTION
A substance, or catalyst, added to ink to
increase the speed at which the ink dries,
typically by speeding up the rate at which it
undergoes oxidation and polymerization.
An ink drier (or other means of expediting the
drying time of an ink) is also known as an
accelerator.

There are two basic types of

driers:
• Liquid driers
• Paste driers
A drier also can be a through drier or a top
drier, which will either dry the ink throughout
the interior of the ink film, or on the surface of
the ink film, respectively
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SOURCES

Liquid Driers
• produced by the conversion of
certain types of organic acids to
heavy metal salts and metallic
soaps
• soluble in oils or other solvents
and can be mixed into the ink
• Liquid driers typically make up
about 0.5:4% of an ink.
• The most popular drier is cobalt,
which is also the most powerful
drier.

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SOURCES

Paste Driers
• comprised of linseed oil
varnishes in which are dispersed
ground organic lead and
manganese salts
• Paste driers are slower drying
than liquid driers
• Cobalt is rarely, if ever, used in
paste driers due to its tendency
to discolor white images and
tints

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OTHER SOURCES

LIQUID DRIERS PASTE DRIERS

• Manganese - which has less of a catalytic • Lead acetate and manganese borate -
effect than cobalt, typically work only in typical composition being about 40% lead
the presence of increased heat. acetate and 8% manganese borate
• Lead - used only sparingly, as it is slow- • Inorganic peroxides are occasionally used
acting, and the use of lead is becoming as driers, particularly in lithographic inks
increasingly restricted, commonly used in
combination with manganese soaps, but
has primarily been replaced by lithium,
zirconium, and cerium soaps.
• Calcium - used to modify the catalytic
action of other metallic soaps.
• Zinc - relatively ineffective as drying
catalysts, are used infrequently, and then
only in some white inks.
• Iron-based driers are used in tung oil 30
varnishes.
DRAWBACKS
Addition of an excessive amount of drier produces ink skin and causes it to dry
instantly

• the addition of too much drier can actually impede ink drying,
and cause problems like ink setoff.
• Greasing and scumming are symptoms of excessive drier in
lithographic inks, and the addition of water to counteract it can
result in excessive water absorption by the paper and hampered
drying of the ink off-press.
• The enhanced absorption of the drier by the substrate or
chemical reaction with a pigment can deprive a particular
chemical of its drying power, this is called drier dissipation.
• antioxidants and anti-skinning agents are added to the ink to
prevent excessive drying

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THANK YOU

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