Cray Valley Products For Inks

1 SMA ResinsCray Valley ProductsFor InksAcrylate OligomersAcrylate MonomersPhotoinitiatorsTABLE OF 4 LITHO GRAPHIC 5 FLEXOGRAPHIC 9 SCREEN inks .. 13 SMA RESINS IN HIGH P/B DISPERSIONS & STABLE 164 INTRODUCTIONCray Valley offers several product lines for use in inks . SMA resins, acrylate oligomers, and acrylate monomers are all usedin the ink industry for lithographic, flexographic and screen Valley s acrylate monomers and oligomers provide all necessary reactive ingredients yielding the higher qualityflexographic, lithographic, and screen inks . Cray Valley s Products are excellent pigment dispersives, let down materials foroptimizing adhesion, cure response enhancers and cured ink durability resins are low molecular weight styrene/maleic anhydride copolymers. They are available both as base resins and aspartial mono esters. Commercial Products are supplied in solid form, either as flake or powder, and as aqueous ammoniasolutions.

2 SMA resins typically are harder, have higher glass transition temperatures, and offer higher acid numbers thanconventional styrene acrylic resins deserve recognition as effective agents for pigment wetting, grinding, and dispersing in waterborne inks andcoatings. Their outstanding performance in these applications facilitates the preparation of stable aqueous pigment dispersionswhich have higher pigment/binder (P/B) ratios and higher pigment loadings than are recommended for competitive styrene/acrylic systems. Despite their higher total solids, these dispersions exhibit lower viscosities and equal or better colorstrength (when diluted to equal pigment loading) than do the styrene/acrylic InksPlate CylinderPlate CylinderRubber Blanket CylinderRubber Blanket CylinderImpression CylinderWebImpression CylinderWebInk TroughInk Delivery RollsInk TroughInk Delivery RollsWater FountainDamping RollsWater FountainDamping RollsLithographic Press SetupLithographic Ink FormulatingThe lithographic printing process is one in which theimage to be printed is rendered on a flat surface andtreated to retain ink while the non-image areas aretreated to repel ink.

3 Based on the principle that oil andwater do not mix, a plate is coated with a photopolymerfilm or ink that is exposed to light through aphotographic mask. The exposed areas are chemically hardened, and the unexposed areas are dissolvedwhen the plate is put through a chemical process duringthe next stage. When printing a page, the plate isdampened, and the water adheres only to theunexposed, non-image areas, which repel the greasyink that is applied to the plate immediately most common lithographic printing uses the offsetmethod, in which the ink is offset onto a rubber-coated cylinder that is pressed against the paper. Incommercial printing the term is used synonymously withoffset inks are very viscous to the point thatthey are paste-like. Litho inks are generally very strongin color value to compensate for the smaller amounttypically applied. The various tones and shading areachieved by overlaying the four basic shades of (UV) and Electron Beam (EB) curable inksare available for litho printing.

4 The use of UV curableinks is on the rise, particularly for the application ofoverprint advantage in using UV and EB curable inks is thelow VOC content which allows printers to operatepresses at comparable speeds to conventional inks ,versus the slow drying and slow press speeds associ-ated with water-based schematic of the lithographic process is Process6 GPTA2395SR90203 EO BPADA221500SR3493 EO TMPTA2360SR4543 PO TMPTA2390SR4923 PO HDDA1223CD5642 PO NPGDA2215SR900321 Health Rating44 Acrylates / MoleculeDiPETA12000SR399 DiTMPTA500SR355 StructureViscosity (25?C)The goal of the litho ink is to provide properties suchas - a wide window for press operation - water balance - minimized tack loss after fountain solution addition - high print quality - fast cure speed - good final film properties - adhesion - scratch and scuff resistanceCray Valley Materials for LithographicFormulationsSartomer provides materials for UV curablelithographic formulations.

5 These materials includeSMA resins, monomers, oligomers, and and EB curable lithographic inks containmonomers at 0 20% by weight of a lower viscosity and tack. They increasecure rates and the crosslink density. Too much or thewrong kind of monomer can lead to poor waterbalance. Some of the more common monomers usedand their properties are listed and SR9003 - Low viscosity - Cut tack quickly - Too much leads to water balance issuesSR492 and SR9020 - Hydrophobic - Excellent litho properties - Some pigment wettingSR355, SR399 and SR454 - Greatly increase cure speed - Increase film hardnessSR349 - Very fast cure speed - Toughness and scratch resistance of anoligomerHealth Ratings are listed on the product / molecule is an provide pigment wetting, dispersion, filmtoughness, scratch resistance, and adhesion. They areused at 60 - 80% of formulation. Some of the morecommon oligomers used and their properties are - Very fast epoxy acrylate - Low cost replacement for SR399CN750 and CN790 - Promote adhesion when used up to 40% - Good for lamination - Good litho properties - CN750 is chlorinatedCN2203 - Produce high viscosity inks with low tack - Very low or no misting inks - Excellent cure speed - Works well in EB inksCN293 and CN2295 - Hydrophobic - Good pigment wetting - Very fast cure - Good solubility with resins used in hybridlitho inksSR9020 is the workhorse monomer for litho and SR399 work well for EB litho inksThe table shows the physical properties of - Similar backbone to CN293 and CN2295 - Excellent pigment wetting - Good litho properties - High viscosity with low tackCN2282 - Fast cure - Yields tough films - Flexibility despite being tetrafunctional - Works well with CN790 for adhesion - Good litho propertiesCN111US - Used at up to

6 10% to increase flow ofinksCN118 - Very fast cure - Hydrophobic - Excellent litho propertiesCN9167 - High impact - Resilient - Water resistantThe table discusses the physcial properties of Valley uses Esacure photoinitiators such asEsacure KS300, Esacure TZT, and Esacure KS3001 is 1-hydroxy-cyclohexyl-phenylketone. It is a highly reactive photoinitiator de-signed for UV coatings and inks based on epoxy acry-lates, urethane acrylates, polyester acrylates, and mix-tures. The melting point is 62-64 C and it soluble inorganic solvents & monomers. It provides fast cureresponse, good through cure, and low color in TZT1 is a eutectic mixture of 2,4,6-trimethylbenzophenone and 4-methylbenzophenone. Itis practically insoluble in water, but completely solublein most organic solvents, monomers, oligomers, andresins. It provides high reactivity, is highly soluble, yieldslow odor and color in cured films.

7 It also providesgood surface cure, fast cure response, good throughcure, and adhesion. Its suggested use level is by ITX1 is a photoinitiator that is used incombination with a suitable coinitiator, , ethyl 4-(dimethylamino) benzoate (EDB), to initiate UV freeradical polymerization. Esacure ITX1 is used in inks ,varnishes, and decorative coatings. It provides fast cureresponse, good surface cure, good through cure, andlow odor in both clear and pigmented coatings. Thesuggested use level is - weight Acrylate2480000CN2282 Polyester Acrylate23(1750)CN750 Polyester Acrylate23(2800)CN790 Polyester Acrylate34(4000)CN294 Polyester Acrylate367700CN293 Polyester Acrylate2658000CN2295 Epoxy Acrylate22(3090)CN11822 Health Rating43 Acrylates / MoleculePolyester Acrylate(1800)CN2203 Epoxy Acrylate18000CN133 StructureViscosity 25?C (60?C)1 supplied by Lamberti USA, GPolycarb onateOPPPVCC redit Card PVCA crylite FF AcrylicClear StyreneMill Finish AL% Adhesion2930313233343536373839 Surface Energy (D/cm)

8 Cray Valley Litho Ink Formulation PropertiesProperties essential to developing a good lithographicink - tack, yield stress, plastic viscosity, yield stress,cure speed, and water pickup were analyzed for theformulation descirbed was run on a Thwing-Albert rpm rpm rpm Stress and Plastic ViscosityYield Stress and Plastic Viscosity were run on aThe graph below presents the adhesion and surfaceenergy of the litho ind formulation on various Valley Litho Ink Acrylate, Adhesion to plasticsBlack Special Black Acrylate, Grinding Vehicle, Cure Speed, Film , Cure speedIrgacure for curing dark inks supplied by Ciba Specialty ChemicalsEsacure for curing the bulk supplied by Lamberti USA, for curing the surface supplied by Lamberti USA, sensitizer supplied by Lamberti USA, America Artic MistPolyethylene S394-SD4 Lithographic Ink FormulationSartomer has developed the following lithographic inkstarting point formulation.

9 Properties were tested anddata is DVIII+ Rheometer using a CP52 2 Plastic Viscosity71,558 cpsYield Stress784 D/cm2 Cure Speed 4400 W/in H bulb200 fpmCure SpeedCure Speed was run with a Fusion 400 W/in H peak irradiance was determined using an EITP ower Puck at 30 nm 110 mW/cm2280-320 nm 620 mW/cm2320-390 nm 850 mW/cm2395-445 nm 740 mW/cm2 Water PickupWater Pickup was tested on a Duke EmulsificationTester using Emerald Green fount. Water low misting9 Flexographic Ink FormulatingIn the typical flexo printing process, the substrate isfed into the press from a roll. The image is printed asthe substrate is pulled through a series of stations orprint units where each print unit is printing a single with gravure and lithographic printing, the varioustones and shading are achieved by overlaying the fourbasic shades of ink. Flexography is the major processused to print packaging materials. Flexography is usedto print corrugated containers, folding cartons, multiwallsacks, paper sacks, plastic bags, milk and beveragecartons, disposable cups and containers, labels,adhesive tapes, envelopes, newspapers, and wrappers(candy and food).

10 UV flexo inks are commonly used for top coats andlacquers. The use of UV curable colored inks is risingwithin the flexographic printing industry because UVis responsible for many improvements in the image qual-ity of flexographic curable flexographic printing operations requirelow viscosity inks which are generally 500 1200 cpsin voscosity depending on color and substrate. Theymust have excellent adhesion to plastic films, fast cure( generally running on 300 fpm printing lines), excel-lent stability, no flocculation of pigments which willleads to viscosity and color strength change, and schematic of the flexographic process is InksImpression RollSubstrateImpression RollSubstrateImpression RollSubstratePlate RollPlate RollAnilox RollChambered Doctor BladeAnilox RollAnilox RollChambered Doctor Bladelexographic Press etupCray Valley Materials for FlexographicFormulationsCray Valley provides materials for UV curableflexographic formulations.