Varieties and Applications of UV Screen Printing Inks

With the rapid development of digital printing technology, some people think that screen printing will be eliminated, but the technological innovation of UV screen printing inks has continuously improved the performance of screen printing in all aspects. It is comparable to digital printing. Today, UV screen printing inks can adapt to more and more special materials to ensure the unique printing and decorative effects of the product, which is superior to and beyond the printing scope of four-color digital printers.

Thermoforming UV ink

Research on thermoforming UV inks is in full swing. This ink has good adhesion and flexibility, can withstand stretching in thermoforming, and can stretch 8 inches or more in vacuum forming. Thermoformed UV ink formulations are modified to withstand thermal bending, stretching, and other post-processing on a variety of substrates, such as styrene, polycarbonate, acrylic, PETG (diol-modified PET), PVC, and some metal.

Thick ink UV ink

The in-depth study and understanding of the photoinitiator reaction mechanism has enabled ink formulators to formulate more special UV inks, including ink products with high pigment content and the ability to form thick ink layers. Now, printers can choose 60-line / inch thick screens and screens with a thickness of 300 μm or more for printing. Alternative thick ink UV ink products include thixotropic coatings and inks that can produce relief printing effects, and this ink is expected to have a significant increase in applications.

Forming substrate liquid UV ink

The highly ductile resins and monomers used in the preparation of thermoformed UV inks can also be used to configure a new type of thick ink UV inks—molding substrate liquid inks, which include a kind of formula. In other words, this ink is both an imaging substance and a printing material after curing. Depending on the ink formulation used, pressure sensitive or electrostatically adsorbed images can be produced after printing. This printing method, which eliminates printing materials, saves material and die cutting costs, and also reduces turnaround time.

Magnetic UV ink

Another product that extends from thick ink UV ink technology is magnetic UV ink. This ink can be printed on a variety of printing materials to make it magnetic, but this ink does not turn the image into a real magnet, but can fix the printed image through the magnetic surface of the ink after curing. This ink is suitable for printing images that often need to be replaced, such as those in newspaper kiosks, shelves, combined mold displays, etc.

Special effect UV ink

The thick ink layer UV ink technology has led to the development of several new inks with special effects. Glittering UV inks with large particles of luminescent particles can produce a glittering effect on printed patterns. This ink requires coarse mesh screen printing to enable the glitter particles to pass through. Another newly developed ink is a long-lasting luminescent ink that can emit light for more than 14 hours. Other UV ink formulations use a range of colored pearl-like, spark-like, or metallic particles, based on a rough classification of the substrate. High pigment content inks allow printers to consider printing on dark substrates, which can ensure better color hiding power.

Refractory UV ink

Another UV screen printing ink technology research hotspot is refractory UV ink. This ink is proposed for some consumers concerned about the safety of printed matter. The ink and substrate manufacturers work together to research solutions. Although the UV ink has a relatively high flash point, once the combustion limit temperature is exceeded, the UV ink will also decompose and burn. There are two ways to slow the burning of UV inks. One is to use inhibitors in the ink to prevent burning and reduce or even eliminate flames. Another approach is to design UV ink formulations that mimic foamed fire-resistant coatings. Under the action of flame or high temperature, the foaming type fire-resistant coating is severely foamed and carbonized, which blocks oxygen and prevents combustion and flame. It should be kept in mind that fire-resistant UV ink alone cannot completely prevent fire, and the ability of the substrate to expand and suppress the flame is equally important.

New application of UV screen printing ink

Recent technological innovations have enabled ink manufacturers to produce UV inks with good adhesion, durability, flexibility and water resistance. Recent advances in UV ink technology have had significant impact on the following markets and applications.

Application in POP poster

In the past, only multi-purpose POP inks showed good adhesion on a variety of substrates, including paper, cardboard, styrene, stretched polyvinyl chloride, and even some difficult-to-attach polyolefins. But a few years ago, the advent of single-component UV inks completely changed this situation. This ink can adhere well to polyolefin materials (PE, PP) and has good performance characteristics, such as in label printing. Excellent ink film flexibility and water resistance in other fields. This new type of ink eliminates the use of additives, reduces the waste of similar two-component inks, and can also reduce ink inventory and improve economic efficiency.

Application on containers

The biggest progress of UV screen printing ink technology should be in container printing. In the past, multiple additives and ink systems were needed to accommodate different types of plastic containers, but now HDPE, LDPE, PET, PVC, PP, and other plastic containers can be decorated with single-component, additive-free inks. These inks provide better hiding power and greater resistance to chemical solvents, while eliminating the need for additives and catalysts.

Application on hygroscopic plastic

The development of multifunctional monomers is one of the latest advances in UV ink technology, and ink manufacturers are using it to solve the problems of printing hygroscopic plastics, such as polyethylene labels and HDPE materials. These substrates easily absorb moisture, and water vapor forms a fine barrier layer between the ink and the surface of the substrate, which affects the adhesion of the ink. So the ink layer on these materials is easy to wear and peel. The ink formulated with this new multifunctional monomer greatly improves its water resistance on hygroscopic materials, has a faster curing speed, a higher gloss and firmer ink layer, and the ink layer is almost completely water resistant.

Development of UV screen printing ink

With the continuous development of raw materials, it seems that it is impossible to see how far UV curing products will develop in the future. In the early years, UV inks added various additives to improve performance, and printers had to play the role of chemist in order to achieve good ink performance. But today, ink manufacturers can develop products based on customer needs and use more advanced technologies in ink production. Raw material suppliers will also develop raw materials based on the needs of ink designers, unlike the very limited number of raw materials that designers can choose from initially.

Increasing competition has forced ink manufacturers to adopt some innovative technologies to improve ink performance, while developing new areas suitable for UV screen printing. Overall, thanks to the development of new UV inks, the UV screen printing market has grown significantly. With the joint efforts of raw material suppliers and ink manufacturers to develop new products and formulate new performance standards, this trend in the UV screen printing market will undoubtedly continue.