UV LED Inks - Welcome to the Tipping Point
As UV LED curing continues to grow at a rapid pace, leading ink manufacturers are putting significant R&D resources into UV LED inks to meet customer demand. Printers are increasingly interested and opting for UV LED technology regardless of the printing process used. With the energy cost savings and sustainability benefits of UV LED curing, customer demand is on the rise.
What are the ink manufacturers saying about UV LED? This article highlights some of the latest input from the ink manufacturers along with available LED inks on the market.
FLINT GROUP
Flint Group says that 2023 is shaping up to be the year of conversion to LED curing for label and narrow web packaging printers.
“With today’s business environment and the cumulative benefits of LED, we’re clearly looking at the tipping point of real market-wide change. This is likely to intensify with global sustainability legislation limiting the use of mercury, which looks set to make UV lamps harder to acquire and dispose of. With LED curing offering lower cost in use, rapid speed, and high quality, it’s time to move the curing conversation forwards, and 2023 could be the year this happens on a broad scale.”
Niklas Olsson, global director product & commercial excellence, Narrow Web at Flint Group
Flint Group designed its EkoCure range of inks with Dual Cure technology. These inks provide superb performance with both traditional lamps and UV LED curing. In addition, this range includes EkoCure ANCORA F2, designed for stringent food labelling & packaging applications. With EkoCure’s dual curing capabilities, printers can transition unit by unit or press by press.
Source: Ink World Magazine
https://www.inkworldmagazine.com/contents/view_breaking-news/2023-04-06/flint-group-says-led-curing-set-to-take-the-spotlight-for-2023/#
RESINO
“LED is picking up pace, I trust it will grow faster and faster, until all new systems and replacements will be LED.”
“Since the intensity of the LED lamps have increased, we no longer see limitations in colour shades for LED and it is difficult to see any obstacles for conversion from mercury lamps to LED, now that high intensity lamps are available.”
Niels Nielsen, commercial director at Resino
Source: FlexoTech Magazine (Ink Masters article page 33-35) https://edition.pagesuite.com/html5/reader/production/default.aspx?pubname=&edid=287736e7-0c04-4e11-9089-8658aab8b5c6
SUN CHEMICAL
“We see UV LED continuing to grow in all market segments, narrow web, packaging, commercial, publication, screen and more. The expectation is that UV LED Curing will increase 15-20% year on year, gradually taking market share from conventional medium pressure mercury vapour installations. Ultimately, once the tipping point occurs, there will be no reason why European legislation will continue to support exemptions to the elimination of mercury in electrical installations.”
Jonathon Sexton, marketing director narrow web and screen, and Mark Walkling, product manager, ECP Packaging and Narrow Web Labels, Europe at Sun Chemical
Source: FlexoTech Magazine (Ink Masters article page 33-35) https://edition.pagesuite.com/html5/reader/production/default.aspx?pubname=&edid=287736e7-0c04-4e11-9089-8658aab8b5c6
UV LED curing SolarWave™ flexo inks enable environmental improvements within industrial processes, resulting in lower energy consumption and minimized energy costs from production.
SolarWave CRCL DC is Sun Chemical’s new LED/UV curable sustainable offering of recycle friendly ink technology. This performs without the use of for wash-off while still resulting in no discoloration of the wash water or recyclate.
SolarWave FSP (in Europe) and SolarWave DS LM (in North America) UV LED flexo packaging and narrow web compliant inks are available as finished inks or as part of the dispersion system through a dedicated UV LED technology varnish. The inks demonstrate all the capabilities of conventional UV flexo inks when cured under suitable UV LED curing systems.
HUBERGROUP
“We are currently observing many new installations of the UV LED technology in flexo printing, both for low-migration and standard applications. The growing usage of this technology results from its environmental friendliness, its energy-saving potential, and its long service life. As these factors become more and more important, we expect that the popularity of LED technology will also continue to grow. On top, there is the threat of a ban on mercury vapor lamps in the EU so that printers in this region might hesitate to further invest in this technology and switch to LED technology instead.”
Alexander Blasek, Hubergroup’s global project manager for UV Flexo
Source: FlexoTech Magazine (Ink Masters article page 33-35) https://edition.pagesuite.com/html5/reader/production/default.aspx?pubname=&edid=287736e7-0c04-4e11-9089-8658aab8b5c6
ZHELLER+GMELLIN
“Given the very large number of UV curing legacy installations across the industry, as well as the aforementioned rise in new LED installs, all of our new ink system developments will be dual cure, able to be run on both UV & LED-equipped presses, which will help limit the ink inventory needed to run all jobs in a given pressroom.”
Ed Dedman, flexo technical support/product manager
Source: Ink World Magazine
https://www.inkworldmagazine.com/contents/view_online-exclusives/2023-04-05/as-interest-in-uv-grows-ink-manufacturers-develop-new-technologies/
PULSE ROLL LABEL PRODUCTS
“LED curing is looking like the future of the industry. Offering increased performance compared with other suppliers, and with a dual cure formulation, this new solution gives printers the versatility and freedom they need to switch to LED ink at their own convenience.”
“At a time when our customers’ energy bills are soaring, solutions like PureTone DC that help cut costs with rapid, energy-efficient curing can make all the difference. As well as needing less energy to run, the UV LED lamps that cure this ink last much longer than traditional UV equivalents, with output remaining consistent over the bulb’s lifespan. What’s more, disposal is also significantly less complex with UV LED bulbs.”
“The ongoing uncertainty over the future of mercury regulations in flexo printing, coupled with the enormous cost and energy benefits, means there’s never been a better time to make the change to UV LED ink.”
Gary Seward, managing director of Pulse Roll Label Products
Source: Labels and Labeling
https://www.labelsandlabeling.com/news/new-products/pulse-roll-label-launches-dual-cure-uv-led-ink
ACTEGA
ACTEGA unveiled its new line of ACTExact® SafeShield UV-LED low migration inks at Labelexpo Americas 2022. SafeShield UV-LED inks are the most extensively certified ink product line from ACTEGA to date. The ACTExact® SafeShield UV-LED inks have been formulated with stringent protocols in place.
Source: UV+EB Website
https://uvebtech.com/press-release/2022/actega-launches-actexact-safeshield-uv-led-inks/
NAZDAR
One of the leading innovators in UV-LED print technology, Nazdar offers a comprehensive portfolio of LED-curing inks for use by inkjet, screen, and narrow web printers.
The flexibility of UV-LED inks has continued to improve, to the point where these inks can not only be run on a range of printing presses, but also on a vast selection of substrates and at increasingly faster press speeds. In addition, UV-LED curing systems are now available with continuous length lamp head assemblies up to 1.7 meters long. As such, this opens their use to all sorts of print applications.
Source: Nazdar website
https://www.nazdar.com/
CYNGIENT
Cyngient is a full-service ink, coating & adhesive company that offers high-performance LED UV curable mixing color base ink formulas for shrink sleeve and prime label applications. Cyngient's ink formulas are versatile for flexo printers.
Source: Cyngient website
https://www.cyngient.com
SIEGWERK
Siegwerk offers a wide portfolio of UV and UV LED inks covering all print applications, including low migration inks, varnishes, and metallic inks.
SICURA Nutriflex LEDTec
The SICURA Nutriflex LEDTec is a low migration flexo printing ink series, suitable for processing on all types of in-line label or packaging printing machines on a wide range of plastic materials and other substrates, which can be cured by either LED-UV or mercury arc lamp UV-curing (Dual Cure system).
SICURA Flex Dual Cure
The SICURA Flex Dual Cure is a TMPTA-free formulated LED-UV and/or UV-curing ink series for non-NPH (Nutrition, Pharma & Hygiene) applications.
Source: Siegwerk Website
https://www.siegwerk.com/en/company/what-we-do/narrow-web.html
KAO COLLINS
Kao Collins produces high-quality LED inks for high-speed Piezo printing systems. TESLA LED-curable ink offers an alternative to UV inks cured with mercury arc lamps.
Kao Collins LED-curable inks print on a range of substrates, including automotive parts and components and flexible packaging and films. Superior wetting ensures even coating that delivers impressive results and reduces operating costs for industrial printers.
Customers use LED-curable inks for printing a range of products and substrates, allowing them to expand their growth opportunities. More cardboard packaging converters are turning to LED-curable inks with the growth of e-Commerce.
Source: Kao Collins Website
https://www.kaocollins.com/inks/led-curable-ink/
RUCO
Ruco 937LED inks are dual-cure inks that offer excellent adhesion to glass, ceramics, and metal, plus resistance to chemicals, water, and abrasion. They can be used for high-speed decoration of bottles and glassware that will be chilled or run through a dishwasher. Ruco 947LED inks are formulated for plastic containers, including PET, polyethylene, polypropylene, acrylic, and more. These inks are suitable for high-speed bottle decoration lines as well as semi-automatic machines. Ruco 955LED-LM is a low-migration, silicone-free formulation for the external printing of plastic tubes and hollow bodies used to package food or cosmetics.
Source: Ruco Website
https://www.rucoinks.com/led-937-uv-screen-printing-inks
NORCOTE
Norcote LED First-Surface series inks are suitable for almost all graphic/P-O-P and plastic-container printing applications. They cure rapidly, provide a scratch-resistant surface when properly cured, and have good adhesion to a number of substrates.
Source: Norcote website
http://www.norcote.com/uploads/7/5/4/4/75449567/led_first_surface.pdf
Norcote LED MSK series inks were created for second-surface printing in industrial graphic applications. The inks are compatible with polycarbonate and treated polyester and most pressure-sensitive adhesives.
Source: Norcote website
http://www.norcote.com/uploads/7/5/4/4/75449567/led_msk.pdf
What does the Future hold for UV LED?
As evidenced from the companies mentioned above, large R&D efforts are being set in motion to commercialize UV LED inks. Ink formulation for LED technology has evolved significantly over time, and today all the major suppliers have inks that work with LED technology. Material suppliers have responded to the demand and challenge in the printing world to formulate raw materials that absorb energy corresponding to output wavelength of UV LED curing units. With the continued wide-spread acceptance of UV LED systems, availability of suitable base materials continues to grow.
As the regulatory challenges for traditional mercury bulbs continue, it is imperative for the entire UV LED ecosystem to work together, ensuring a smooth stable transition to LED.
