What is UV Flexo Ink?
UV ink is also called UV-curable ink, which uses ultraviolet radiation of a certain wavelength to instantly turn liquid ink into a solid state through photochemical reaction. The viscosity of flexo UV inks ranges from 250 to 2000cP (25°C), which is much smaller than that of offset UV inks. At present, UV ink has entered a mature stage, and is recognized by the world as a pollution-free ink variety, and its safety has been recognized by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Flexo UV inks are general-purpose and can be used when printing various substrates such as plastic, aluminum foil, and paper. The printing quality of flexo UV ink is better than that of water-based ink and alcohol-soluble ink, so its development and application have been paid attention to by all aspects.
Flexo UV inks are widely welcomed, mainly because they have the following characteristics:
⑴ safe and reliable. Flexo UV ink is solvent-free, non-flammable, and does not pollute the environment. It is suitable for packaging and printing products with high hygienic requirements such as food, beverages, tobacco and alcohol, and medicines.
(2) Good printability. Flexo UV ink has high printing quality, does not change physical properties during the printing process, does not volatilize solvents, has stable viscosity, is not easy to paste and stack, and can be printed with higher viscosity, strong ink adhesion, high dot definition, good tone reproducibility, and ink color. Bright and bright, sticking to Mugu, suitable for fine product printing.
(3) Instant dry. Flexo UV ink can be dried instantly, has high production efficiency, and has a wide range of applications. It has good adhesion on different printing carriers such as paper, aluminum foil, and plastic. The printed products can be stacked immediately without sticking.
(4) Excellent physical and chemical properties. The curing and drying of flexo UV ink is a process of photochemical reaction of the ink, that is, the process of changing from a linear structure to a network structure, so it has many excellent physical and chemical properties such as water resistance, alcohol resistance, wear resistance, and aging resistance.
(5) The dosage is saved. Effective because no solvent evaporates
The composition is high, and it can be converted into ink film nearly 100%, and its dosage is less than half of that of water-based ink or solvent-based ink, which can greatly reduce the cleaning times of printing plates and anilox rollers, and the overall cost is low.
(6) substantially free of organic solvents. The solid content of the flexo UV ink is basically 100%, and the active monomers used for dilution are all involved in the photocuring reaction, and the energy used for photocuring is electricity, without the use of fuel and natural gas, which is very environmentally friendly.
(7) Curable at low temperature. Flexo UV ink can avoid damage to various heat-sensitive substrates caused by high temperature, and is most suitable for printing on various heat-sensitive substrates.
(8) Good printability. The printing process does not change the physical properties, the dot gain rate is small, and the printing quality is excellent. It is obviously superior to traditional inks in terms of gloss, clarity and color saturation.
(9) Energy saving. UV ink only needs the radiant energy used to excite the photoinitiator, and the liquid ink can be cured through an instant photochemical reaction; while the traditional thermal curing requires heating, which consumes a lot of energy. Generally, the energy consumption of thermal curing is ultraviolet light. 5 times the energy consumption for curing.
(10) There are many advantages of its own. The viscosity of flexo UV ink is smaller than other inks; the viscosity is small, the general viscosity range is 2~4 (25°C); the thickness of the ink layer is generally 2~5—; the curing speed is generally 60~150m/min, the fastest Can exceed 500m/min.
