At FuturePrint TECH: Packaging and Labels in Valencia, FuturePrint partner Vera Inkjet’s Dr. Madhu Kaushik talked about ‘Taming the Science: Exploring the Challenges in Designing Water-Based Pigment Inkjet Inks for Corrugated Applications’.

Founded in 2012, Vera Inkjet is based in Montreal, Canada, specialising in the production of water-based pigment inks and fluids for piezo inkjet printheads. Over the past seven years, the company has been experimenting with water-based fluids, generating, as Madhu puts it, ‘a knowledge base, a toolkit’ that they can offer to customers. “There is no need to start from scratch, we will pick out components and formulate for your application,” Madhu continues.

For Madhu, as she outlines in her presentation, there are four key drivers spurring the adoption of water-based inkjet inks: 

1.     Regulatory – companies adopt under pressure

2.     Sustainability – this impacts regulations

3.     Formulation advancements – polymer chemistry, better pigment dispersion

4.     Engineering advancements – printers, print heads, drying technologies

These drivers, Madhu says, give us water-based pigment inks for broader applications. “That’s where we want to contribute,” she says, outlining Vera Inkjet’s ink portfolio across textiles, packaging, and components. Diving deeper into packaging applications, Madhu separates their solutions into three boxes: inks for non-porous substrates such as flexible packaging, cans, and glass; inks for semi-porous substrates such as folding carton, uncoated labels; and highly porous substrates such as corrugated boxes.

Everyone loves corrugated!

Madhu’s presentation highlights a widespread love for corrugated boxes, from her son opting to play with the cardboard box over the toy that came in it, to a psychological study that claims they reduce stress levels in cats by 70%. However, it seems that affection for corrugated boxes is not universal. “As a water-based chemist, I do not like corrugated boxes – I hate them!”

Madhu explains: “Why? It's highly porous, nothing stays on top, especially water. And I'm a water-based ink formulator, but my UV and solvent ink counterparts would agree they hate it too, right? It's not a nice substrate to put ink onto.” Madhu also cites batch to batch inconsistency problems, particularly with recycled stock.

The Vera Inkjet solution

How is Madhu and the Vera Inkjet team dealing with these challenges for water-based inks on corrugated? With the development of a water-based analogue primer. In her session at FuturePrint TECH, Madhu details the company’s ink development journey with this primer. “While developing the water-based ink for corrugated boxes, we focused on four different segments: the binder, the surfactant, the humectant, and the dispersion.”  

Madhu explains the innovations made in these four segments: 

Dispersion – Vera Inkjet’s white dispersion used for textile was not suitable for packaging as it was penetrating too much and did not deliver the opacity, so Vera Inkjet formulated a new, packaging-specific solution.

Binder – When developing an ink with Vera’s regular polyurethane dispersions, the ink would go straight into the box due to its porous nature. Vera created a new binder system with modified chemistry, modified particle size distribution, still targeted for inkjet jettability.

Surfactant – the challenge was the need for wetting but not too much, or it will again penetrate into the box. So, Vera designed a surfactant additive package which works for corrugated and offers a uniform film with high opacity.

Humectant – Testing revealed that Vera’s standard humectant packages initially yielded excellent results but soon lost that fine print quality. So, they optimised the humectant package and now even during and after drying, they retain the film quality.

Combined impact of Vera innovation

What does the collective impact of these optimised segments mean for the end product? Madhu shows the FuturePrint TECH audience a shipping label sample from a client test, explaining: “They were able to print with this ink, single-pass, and ship this to its destination. Basically, they printed the label with our white ink, and shipped it. They are very excited about this, because they have eliminated a step in the packaging, there is no need for an adhesive label – you can print the label straight to the box.”

Madhu concludes by explaining that while their packaging inks are not commercial yet, the finish line is just ahead, with rigorous testing underway both in-house and with genuine client applications. Watch this space for Vera Inkjet’s inkjet ink solutions for packaging and labels.