New Boltorn® innovation upgrades print quality and productivity
Boltorn® W3000 is now available throughout Europe, North America and Mexico. Ink formulators and printers are expected to benefit from better ink rheology and improved ink transfer in the press. Boltorn® W3000 also acts as an ink wetting agent when printing on low surface tension substrates such as plastic.
“Our own work suggests that Boltorn® W3000 is ideal for UV-flexographic inks printed on plastic films, labels and packaging,” comments Bo Häggman, Perstorp Global Market Development Manager.
An amphiphilic hyperbranched polymer, the new performance additive acts as a dispersing agent for pigment in inks resulting in better color strength and depth, giving the print greater richness for higher quality and impact. Boltorn® W3000 also facilitates the dispersion of pigments, like Yellow 13, that are by their nature difficult to disperse.
“Good color strength leads to better hiding power and less ink per square meter,” Häggman explains, “This gives printers an opportunity to increase output and decrease the cost of each printed article.”
The improved wetting also means more refined ink flow and that inks can maintain the same properties regardless of the speed of the press. This is expected to allow printers to increase productivity while retaining high image quality.
In contrast to conventional dispersing agents, Boltorn® W3000 is non-ionic and is free of solvents, silicones and amines. This meets a specific customer demand and enables good multilayer adhesion as opposed to ink additives containing silicone that make adhesion of a second layer of print or varnish impossible. Even so, the rheology of inks formulated with Boltorn® W3000 is as good as or better than the alternatives.
“Boltorn® W3000 is very versatile and has also shown good technical results in evaluations as a wetting agent for solvent borne off-set inks for large volume jobs such as multilayer packaging,” says Häggman.