Technology | What to Watch: Inks


IMPACTS IN INK


WHAT INK DEVELOPMENTS ARE LIKELY TO MOST IMPACT THE WIDE-FORMAT DIGITAL PRINT SECTOR IN THE NEXT 12 - 24 MONTHS?


At the start of this year ink manufacturer Marabu came out with a statement saying inkjet printhead manufacturer Xaar is enabling the production of “game-changing” digital inks due to the development of its Ultra High Viscosity Technology. This enables a wide range of fl uid viscosities and chemistries to be printed at around 100 centipoises (cP) at jetting temperature, equating to approximately 1000cP at ambient temperature. In easy speak, this ability is “opening the toolbox for ink manufacturers” according to Marabu. “Xaar’s Ultra High Viscosity Technology is a real step


forward,” says Tobias Lang, Marabu’s product manager for high viscosity inks. “For example, we can create new inks that allow high-impact, reliable jetting with sharp contours, enabling the layering of durable, resistant haptic effects. In the low-viscosity era, meeting high image quality requirements demanded a more complex process, which high-viscosity inks simplify by creating a wider process window at faster production speeds.” This has been seen recently with the collaboration


between decorative print machine manufacturer Koenig and Bauer Kammann, Marabu and Xaar for creating embossed effects on glass bottles and other packaging


20 | AprilMay 2024


REGULATIONS TO ENSURE SUSTAINABILITY AND SAFETY STANDARDS ARE BECOMING MORE STRINGENT EVERY DAY


at a laydown build height up of to 3mm. “By improving print quality at higher speeds with less ink and energy required, the ability to jet a wide range of high viscosity, high particle loaded fl uids is driving change on many levels,” stresses Karl Forbes, Xaar’s group R&D director. So what other ink developments are likely to most impact the wide-format digital print sector in the next 12 - 24 months? Well, regulation for a start. As Phil McMullin, head of sales for commercial and industrial, Epson UK, points out: “The main issue impacting ink developments will be continued tightening of regulations around different chemicals including Per- and Polyfl uorinated Substances (PFAS). The EU has proposed an extensive change to EU Reach Annex XVII, which could lead to a ban of over 10,000 PFAS. “National and international governments are also now adopting environmental regulations which specifi cally address the content of ink, like the European Union’s EN 134323 standard on packaging compostability.”


McMullin reiterates, that also growing in importance is the increased use of ingredients that are sustainably sourced.


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