Author: Martin
EASY PRINT CNC Technical Department
Printer solvents are volatile organic liquids and are one of the essential components in solvent-based inks. They can adjust the viscosity, surface tension and dryness of inkjet inks. When the ink is transferred to the substrate, the highly volatile solvent evaporates quickly, and the weakly volatile solvent penetrates into the substrate by capillary action, so that the binder and colorant left by the printer on the surface of the paper are fixed on the surface of the paper and dried. It is not only a true solvent for dissolving polymer materials such as binders, but also a diluent for dilution and a co-solvent for latent dissolution.
Commonly used solvents are divided into the following categories according to their chemical structure:
①Fats: The solubility is not very good, the smell is small, and the price is cheap, such as petroleum ether gasoline, kerosene, n-hexane, etc.
②Aromatics: excellent solubility, strong odor, and high toxicity, such as benzene, toluene, xylene, etc.
③Esters: excellent solubility, strong fruit odor, high price, such as ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, etc.
④ Alcohols: good solubility for some resins, good odor, and slightly higher prices, such as ethanol, isopropanol, butanol, ethylene glycol, etc.
⑤ Ketones: very strong solubility, poor odor, such as acetone and cyclohexanone.
⑥Ethers: strong solubility for some resins, mild odor, antifreeze, but high prices, such as ethylene glycol ethyl ether and ethylene glycol butyl ether.
⑦Mixed solvent: refers to the solvent that mixes the above two or more solvents together. Mixed solvents can not only dissolve the resin well, but also adjust the drying speed of the ink by changing its ratio. Solvents can be classified into low boiling point solvents (boiling point below 100°C), medium boiling point solvents (boiling point 100 to 150°C) and high boiling point solvents (boiling point 150 to 250°C). Solvent is not only an important part of the ink, but also can be used to adjust the viscosity and drying speed of the ink. The speed of solvent volatilization can directly affect the drying speed of the ink and the quality of the ink layer formation. If the solvent can be selected reasonably, the cost can be reduced. Organic solvents are the main components of inks. Inkjet inks contain a large amount of volatile organic solvents, accounting for almost 90% of solvent-based inks, and their role cannot be ignored.
