Improved textile printing with inkjet technology
The pigment printing technique needs no washing off and can be applied on every type of fabric. In recent years, Inkjet technology has provided new opportunities to the textile industry producing high quality printing with a beautiful range of colours. The HIGHTEX-INNOPRINT project concentrated on improving the formulations of pigmented inkjet inks for application in inkjet printing using UV-curable binders. An ink or coating containing a photoinitiator can dry in less than a second under a UV light. Photoinitiators are additives, which use energy from ultraviolet or visible light to induce polymerisation, or to cure, as in the case of coatings and inks. In the context of the project, photoinitiators were developed which were stable both in stress conditions and in normal storage. More specifically, stable water-based emulsions of photoinitiators were produced which cover the whole range of UV-Vis emissions used for curing UV ink formulations. The supplied water-based emulsions contain 30% photoinitiators and are easily incorporable into water-based acrylic formulations, demonstrating good stability. The research effort shed light on the development and application of photoinitiator emulsions, which facilitates the manufacturing UV-curable pigment inks for use in textile applications.
