Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Presented by Shrikant Athavale On 12 TH March 2010
Presented by Shrikant Athavale On 12 TH March 2010
Presented by Shrikant Athavale On 12 TH March 2010
Shrikant Athavale
On 12 th march 2010
Various kinds of coatings are being used.
• Adhesives
• Barrier coats
• Anti Fungus / Anti Curl coatings
• Sealable coatings
• Release Coatings
• Varnishes / Lacquers
As we know all these films are chemically inert and have very low
surface energy. The below mentioned table gives an idea about
the surface tension of various polymers.
From the tables given below it is very clear that the polymer
surfaces need treatment to enhance the wet ability , printability ,
and adhesion properties. Or in other words the surface tension
has to match that of the coating materials.
Measuring Surface Energy
The object of surface treating is to improve the wettability of the
surface, thereby improving
the ability to bond to solvents, adhesives, coatings, and extrusion
coating. In order for a surface
to be properly wet by a liquid, the surface energy of the plastic
must be higher than the surface
tension of the liquid. Surface energy is measured in dynes per
centimeter. Ideally, the surface
energy of the plastic should be 7 to 10 dynes/cm higher than the
surface tension of the solvent
or liquid. For example, a printing ink having a surface tension of 30
dynes/cm would not
4
adequately wet or bond to a material having a surface energy less
than 37 to 40 dynes/cm (see
Figure 3).
Treated
untreated
One method for measuring surface energy known as the Wetting
Tension Test (ASTM D-2578) was established a number of years ago
(10).
Surface energy testing is frequently done on post-treatment surfaces
prior to follow-on converting processes.
With this test, a series of mixed liquids with gradually increasing
surface tensions are applied to a treated substrate surface until one is
found that just wets the surface.
The surface energy of the plastic is approximately equal to the
surface tension of that particular mixture. Test solutions are
available from various manufacturers of corona treating equipment.
Table below details the ratio of Formamide and Cellosolve™ for
various surface tensions.
Cellosolve™ is a registered trademark of Union Carbide for ethylene
glycol monoethylether.
The wetting tension test method is by far the most prevalent
measurement used to determine treatment level of post-treated
surfaces.
Dyne level
measuring procedures
Surface treatment techniques
• chemical etching
• flame treatment
• carona treatment
• plasma treatment
surface
UV radiation electron
bombardment
Atmospheric Plasma Benefits
coating results than a single rod. The first rod has larger diameter wire and
removes most of the excess adhesive. The second rod, with smaller
diameter wire,
smoothes the coating and produces the final desired coat weight. Mayer rod
coating
can deliver a broad range of coat weights.
TWO-WIRE DRAWDOWN RODS
Where heavier coatings are required, manufactures
provide special drawdown rods with two wires. A
standard single-wire rod is over wound with a smaller
wire which follows the spiral of the base wire. The result
is a modified groove between the wires that will produce
wet coatings up to 19 mils (.019") thick.
TRI-WIRE DRAWDOWN RODS
Three Rod technology developed by for Coatings up to 56 mils (.056")
thick can be produced, using three standard wires wound in a unique
configuration.
Two wires are wound side by side on a core rod, then a third wire
follows one spiral of the base wires. The resulting groove will maximize
the area between the wires, producing a coating more than six times
the thickness produced by a single-wire rod!
Metering Rod Application Chart
Thickness varies somewhat, notably for high viscosity liquids and small wire rods.
Barrier coatings
• printability
• smoothness
• gloss
• brightness
Printability (the faithfulness of an image’s
reproduction) is clearly better when the ink does
not penetrate the paper’s fibers and spread out.
By printing on a coated sheet, the ink is applied to
the coating instead of the fibers; and the coating
has just enough porosity to improve drying speed,
but not enough to spread the ink. However, the
consistency of the ink holdout is dependent on the
method used in applying the coating.
There are several coating methods, but three are the most
commonly used. The blade coater rolls the liquid coating onto the
bottom of the paper, then uses a flexible blade to scrape away the
excess coating. This method produces a sheet with high gloss, but
the resultant variation in coating thickness can cause inconsistent
ink holdout and produce uneven printed solids (mottle).
The trailing blade coating method scrapes away excessive coating,
but leaves a thick-and-thin effect.
Anti Curl
Oil-based Varnishes
Oil-based varnishes can be compared to colorless offset
printing inks. The main components are resins, drying
oils, mineral oils, and drying agents. The oil-based
varnishes are transferred onto the paper with offset
inking units. They dry on the paper by absorption and
oxidation. Oil-based varnishes are used to:
• increase printing ink brilliance (glossy varnishes),
• achieve specific matte effects (matte varnishes and
satin finish varnishes),
• improve abrasion resistance (protective varnishes).
Oilprint varnishes tend to turn yellow. For web offset
printing, special heat-set varnishes are used.
Water-based/Dispersion Varnishes
Today, dispersion varnishes are widely used and offer
diverse technical possibilities in offset printing. The
principal components of dispersion varnishes are:
• polymer dispersions,
• hydrosols (resins dissolved in water),
• wax dispersions for grinding and abrasion resistance,
• film-forming aids,
• cross-linking agents and antifoaming agents.