Textile Ink Composition Using Biodegradable Chelators Against Clogging
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current ink jet textile printing methods face challenges with limited dye selection, poor environmental compatibility, and issues with long-term storage and clogging due to pH-dependent chelating agent performance and precipitation of metal salts, which affect the quality and stability of the ink composition.
Innovation Solution
An ink jet textile printing ink composition using a metal chelating agent like methyl glycine diacetic acid, L-glutamate diacetic acid, or their salts, with a pH range of 6 to 10, to improve biodegradability and suppress salt precipitation, combined with solvents and surfactants to enhance stability and prevent clogging.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional chelating agents (EDTA, picolinate) are used to suppress metal salt precipitation, then long-term storage stability is improved, but environmental compatibility deteriorates due to low biodegradability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical structure parameters of chelating agents from conventional EDTA/picolinate to biodegradable alternatives such as iminodisuccinic acid compounds and their N-substituted derivatives. This structural modification maintains the chelating function while improving biodegradability and environmental compatibility, resolving the contradiction between storage stability and environmental harm.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs biodegradable chelating agents that can be naturally decomposed after serving their function, replacing persistent conventional agents. These biodegradable agents fulfill the chelating requirement during storage and usage, then break down harmlessly, effectively addressing the environmental compatibility issue while maintaining reliability.
2Reliability
If pH is adjusted to optimize chelating agent performance, then metal salt precipitation is suppressed, but chelating function deteriorates when pH deviates from optimal range
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies the chemical structure of chelating agents to iminodisuccinic acid compounds and their N-substituted derivatives, which possess enhanced pH buffer capacity and broader effective pH ranges. This structural change allows the chelating function to remain stable across varying pH conditions, resolving the contradiction between precipitation suppression and adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs chelating agents with dynamic pH buffering capabilities that can adapt to pH changes in the ink composition. The iminodisuccinic acid compounds maintain effective chelating function across a broader pH spectrum, providing dynamic stability rather than requiring strict pH control, thus improving versatility.
3Manufacturing precision
If dye selection is expanded for better chromogenic properties, then printing quality is improved, but dye solubility and ejection stability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces biodegradable chelating agents as intermediary substances that form stable complexes with metal ions present in the ink composition. This intermediary chelating action prevents metal ion interference with dye molecules, allowing a broader selection of dyes with superior chromogenic properties while maintaining ejection stability through the mediating chelating effect.
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 solution enhances environmental compatibility, improves long-term storage properties, and reduces clogging in ink jet heads, ensuring stable and high-quality textile printing with improved chromogenic properties and washing fastness.
Implementation Method 1
there has been known a technique of suppressing the precipitation of a metal salt by complexing metal ions using a chelating function (effect) of a metal chelating agent added to the aqueous ink composition
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
An ink jet textile printing ink composition includes water; a color material; and a metal chelating agent. In the ink composition described above, the metal chelating agent includes at least one selected from methyl glycine diacetic acid, L-glutamate diacetic acid, L-aspartic diacetic acid, hydroxyethylimino diacetic acid, 3-hydroxy-2,2'-iminodisuccucinic acid, dicarboxymethyl glutamic acid, (S,S)-ethylenediaminedisuccinic acid, and salts thereof, and the pH of the ink composition is 6 to 10.