TECHNOLOGY | ANTICOUNTERFEITING
IMAGE: GRAFE
cannot be removed. Due to its nature, the marker offers perfect protection against counterfeiting or proof of originality. Another advantage of this solution is that a sensor can be used during the printing process to ensure that the correct material is used,” he adds. Grafe says the marking technology has been developed together with security inks maker Tailorlux, which also supplies the required hand- held measuring device. Schulze says the markers can be developed to be specific to a region, company, industry or product. To date, the marker technology has been used
Above: Grafe has worked with Tailorlux to develop tracer master- batches to provide high speed authen- tication of 3Dprinted parts
print, pollution, sustainability, and general transpar- ency and accountability, serve as significant drivers in the growing trend and call-to-action for estab- lishing veritable traceability of polymers,” he says. Herbenson says that “paper trails” and “creative accounting methods” are easier and cheaper but, in his opinion, not as effective as physical tracers at providing “real traceability.” However, he adds that it remains to be seen what legislation will require. “There are a few technologies providing real traceability, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. Early adopters of one or more of these technologies will have a significant advan- tage over those who do not [adopt an existing technology],” he says.
3Dprint tracers German masterbatch producer Grafe provides customer-specific tracer masterbatches, including products in combination with colour recipes. According to Lars Schulze, Head of Colour Devel- opment and Material Sciences at Grafe Polymer Solutions, anticounterfeiting measures are espe- cially important for ensuring genuine components where failure of the part would cause an unsafe condition. As more parts—and spare parts—are com- ing from 3D printers today, the company is launch- ing a tracer masterbatch technology targeted specifically at the sector. “The number of parts from 3D printers is already
increasing rapidly today, both in private and industrial use. If one now imagines that spare parts for licensed products are printed from inferior and untested material, recourse claims or warranty claims would be void and, in the worst case, property damage or personal injury would occur,” Schulze says. “We incorporate a marker into the filament that can be used to check whether the correct material was used. It is permanently in the component and
30 COMPOUNDING WORLD | December 2023
with PLA and PETG filaments. However, Shculze says it can also be used in PA and PC, as well as other polymers provided the processing param- eters are considered during marker selection. The colour of the part is not affected but colour can impact on dosage. “The batch dosages are comparatively low and
can be realised from one percent,” Schulze says. “Components coloured with carbon black require a slightly higher dosage than others. Carbon fibres also influence the result. Ultimately, it can be said that each filament can be marked with a maximum dosage of three percent.” Looking to the future, Schulze says tracer masterbatches will be increasingly used for identifying recycled plastics. “It would be possible to identify where waste comes from and even what quality it is in. The advantage of tracers is that they are very difficult to eliminate and are therefore contained in the polymer in every new value creation process. Traceability over several recycling steps is possible.”
Tracking material Germany’s Polysecure also offers marker technol- ogy, detectors and sorting machinery for sorting, product tracking, product authentication and material tracking. It says its Particle-Fingerprint technology (TrackByStars) can be used as a robust and forgery-proof unique identifier technology, such as for Digital Product Passports and authentic production tracking, while its PolTag technology, which is suitable for liquids or solids, can be used for Digital Material Passports and to monitor recycled content (via quantitative measurement using mass spectroscopy). Recently, Polysecure’s inorganic fluorescent
markers passed the required tests for compliance with food contact regulations in Europe, allowing their use in food contact material and on surfaces of food packaging. The company anticipates FDA food contact approval to be obtained early in 2024.
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