What are printing inks?

Ink is a substance used to form graphic information in the printing process. Therefore, ink plays a very important role in printing. It directly determines the tone, color, and clarity of the image on the printed matter. In printing, we need to understand the composition of ink and the classification of ink. The ink should have bright colors, good printing adaptability and suitable drying speed. In addition, it should also have certain application indicators of resistance to solvents, acids, alkalis, water, light, heat, etc.

As printing, paper and other requirements are getting higher and higher, the technical conditions for ink requirements have also improved. For example, modern high-speed multi-color printing presses and various-color rotary printing presses require the ink to dry in a few seconds or even faster. Glass cards, gold and silver cards, and coated paper require glossy inks. Printing plastic film requires good bonding with plastic film; or ink that adheres to plastic film to a great extent. Printing special prints requires the use of photosensitive inks, etc. Ink is mainly used in the printing industry. Pigments and binders are the two main raw materials that make up inks. When printing operators choose ink, they generally regard color as the first requirement. The color (hue) of ink is one of the more intuitive indicators. In fact, it is a major indicator that reflects the quality of printed products to a large extent. Therefore, the quality of the pigment plays a decisive role in the quality of the ink. Pigments are solid powdery substances with a certain color that are neither soluble in water, nor in oil or binder. It is not only the main solid component of the ink, but also the visible color body part printed on any object. To a large extent determines the quality of the ink, such as color (hue), thinness and so on. It has a great influence on viscosity, physical and chemical properties, and printing properties. Therefore, the pigment is required to have bright color, high concentration, good dispersion and other related properties required by ink. In fact, the perfect ideal pigment does not exist, and can only be satisfied relatively or partially. The binder is a viscous fluid. As the name suggests, it acts as a link. In the ink industry, powdery pigments and other substances are mixed and connected, so that after grinding and dispersing, it is possible to form a paste-like adhesive body with a certain fluidity. The vehicle is the fluid component of the ink. The fluidity (property), viscosity (property), dryness, and printing performance of the ink all depend on the binder. Therefore, the binder is the basis for the quality of the ink.

All kinds of vegetable oils can be used to make ink binders. Some animal oils and mineral oils are also used in ink binders. Solvents and water are no exception. The emergence of various resins in recent decades has expanded the sources and varieties of binders. The filler (filler) is a white, transparent, translucent or transparent powdery substance, and it is also a solid component in the ink. Mainly for filling. In the ink is the filling pigment part. Appropriate use of some fillers can not only reduce the amount of pigments, reduce costs, but also adjust the properties of the ink, such as thinness and fluidity. It also increases the flexibility of formulation design. sasol wax price list Additional material. It is not difficult to understand that the additive is an additional part of the ink in addition to the main component. They may be an additional part of the pigment, an additional part of the binder, or an additional part of the finished ink product, depending on the characteristics and requirements of the product. Of course, many additional materials are printing (auxiliary) auxiliaries. There are as many as 5,000 kinds of raw materials used in the manufacture of inks in the world.