Inkjet Ink Composition with Epoxy Resin for Fast Drying
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional inkjet ink compositions, particularly those using dyes, suffer from poor lightfastness, waterfastness, and long drying times, which can lead to smearing and blurring issues, especially when laminated with a clear protective film.
Innovation Solution
The development of an inkjet ink composition that includes a pigment, a binder system, a solvent system, and an epoxy resin, specifically formulated to improve lightfastness, waterfastness, and drying time, with the pigment present in an amount from 0.5 to 5 wt.%, the binder system from 0.2 to 15 wt.%, the solvent system from 1 to 99 wt.%, and optionally an acid scavenger from 0.05 to 1 wt.%.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If pigment-based ink compositions are used to improve lightfastness and waterfastness, then durability is improved, but drying time increases to greater than 8 hours
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical parameters of the ink composition by incorporating epoxy resin (0.05-1 wt.%) as an acid scavenger and optimizing the solvent system composition. These parameter changes enable the pigment-based ink to dry within 8 hours while maintaining improved lightfastness and waterfastness, resolving the contradiction between durability and drying time.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional dye-based ink compositions are used, then the ink is easy to formulate and apply, but lightfastness and waterfastness deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a composite ink formulation that combines pigment particles (0.5-5 wt.%) with binder system (0.2-15 wt.%) and epoxy resin (0.05-1 wt.%). This composite approach integrates the durability of pigments with the formulation advantages of conventional inks, achieving both ease of manufacture and improved lightfastness/waterfastness.
3Manufacturing precision
If ink compositions with long drying times are used, then sufficient penetration and coverage are achieved, but smearing and blurring occur during lamination
Solution Approach 1:
The ink composition performs preliminary drying action within 8 hours through the optimized solvent system and epoxy resin additive. This preliminary drying prevents smearing and blurring during subsequent lamination processes while maintaining adequate penetration and coverage, eliminating the harmful effects of excessive drying time.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The ink composition achieves improved lightfastness, waterfastness, and significantly reduces drying time to less than 8 hours, allowing for reliable lamination and enhanced performance in terms of nozzle open time, machine reliability, and weathering resistance.
Implementation Method 1
enhancing the penetration of the ink composition, shortening the drying time
Implementation Method 2
forming a large pixel (for example, a dot) using a smaller amount of the ink is desirable
Data Source
AI summary
Ink compositions for inkjet printing are disclosed. The ink compositions comprise a pigment, a binder system, a solvent system, and an epoxy resin. The ink compositions have improved drying time from the time of printing to the time of lamination with an overlaminate film as compared to existing inkjet ink compositions.