Thursday Morning, 15 October 2009

9.00 - 12.15h  SESSION 5
Chairman: Dr. Volker Linzer, Sunchem, DE

GRAPHIC ARTS AND LAMINATING FOR PACKAGING

The use of energy curable inks, coatings and laminating adhesives in the graphic arts is still growing. Especially in flexible food packaging applications, where conventional applications dominate, the growth potential is high. However, the incidences with food packaging in the past have demonstrated that the food packaging market is the most challenging area for energy curing. This end user oriented session will lead through the considerations of legislation, migration and odour off taste considerations, as well as developments and processes as potential solutions to the challenges.

5.1 9.00 - 9.25h
Food contact considerations
Rachida Semail, Keller and Heckman, BE

The paper will discuss the current food contact legislation in relation to printing inks and adhesives. The focus will be on the EU legislation issued and the safety of the finished product can be demonstrated.

5.2 9.25 - 9.50h
Assessment of potential migration in UV/EB inks, coatings or adhesives
Dr. Corinne Roqueta, Cray Valley-Sartomer, FR

Increasingly coatings and inks formulators are being requested to produce products with improved odour, taint and low migration properties. These demands are driven by legislation as well as by consumers and customers requirements. For the formulators of coatings and inks, this has required improvement and development of new analytical techniques in order to better assess this complex situation. This paper will offer an overview of regulatory test protocol before presenting a generic approach and analysis from a raw material perspective. Examples will be given for the UV/EB food packing application, coatings emissions as well as odour generation.

5.3 9.50 - 10.15h
Goals of polymeric photoinitiators
Roberto Bianchi, Rahn AG, CH

UV radically curing technology has been used for many years and in recent time has assumed an increasing relevance in a wide range of applications such as graphic arts, adhesives, inkjet, and photoresists. This technology is based on the use of photoinitiator systems suited to absorb light radiation of the appropriate wavelength and to produce primary radicals, which are able to initiate the polymerization. The performances of the photoinitiating system are related to high absorptivity, high efficiency in terms of both quantum yield for radical formation and high reactivity, low odour and toxicity, good compatibility with UV curing acrylates and good storage stability. A possible way to achieve most of the above mentioned requirements and in response to upcoming legislation on migration levels for inks used in food packaging, RAHN introduced in 2004 the new polymeric photoinitiator range. In this paper standard and polymeric photoinitiators are compared in order to show differences in performance formulation and easy of use.

5.4 11.00 - 11.25h
A novel polyfunctional high molecular weight co-initiator
Barbara Fenzi, Lamberti S.p.A, IT

Co-initiators have critical importance in UV curable formulations, mainly in inks and low thickness coatings for their activities as oxygen scavenger and hydrogen transfer substrate in type two photoinitiators. Both UV curable inks and OPV can be largely used in development applications as food packaging. One of critical issue of food contact application is the migration of the components of the formulations including photoinitiators and co-initiators. The migrability of photoinitiators has been overcome by the development of difunctional photoinitiators, while co-initiators are still a matter of risk for their migration characteristics. For this purpose we developed a novel polyfunctional high molecular weight amine co-initiator. It is characterised by high reactivity, non-yellowing and low odour properties. The novel co-initiator shows very low migrability in different simulating fluids from the cured formulations. The combination of co-initiator and difunctional photoinitiators offers possible solution for the use of UV curable technology in food packaging applications.

5.5 11.25 - 11.50h
Design of a new polyester acrylate for the formulation of UV/EB flexographic and lithographic inks
Hélène Ripoll, Sartomer Europe, FR

The use of UV and EB is now well established within the printing technologies. The constant growth and penetration of UV/EB inks on the market clearly demonstrate the advantages when compared to conventional printing technologies. Although most of the volumes sold in the UV/EB Inks and Graphic Arts industry are dedicated to over print varnishes, flexo and offset inks still cover 35% of the market and always require high performance raw materials. This paper will present, after reviewing the main properties of flexo and offset systems, an evaluation of various acrylated oligomers which lead by a selective choice of raw material to design a new optimised polyester acrylate suitable either for flexographic or lithographic inks.

5.6 11.50 - 12.15h
Electron beam curing, the only curing option providing sustainable packaging
Imtiaz Rangwalla, Energy Sciences, Inc., US

High energy costs, climate change, carbon tax have forced various industries to evaluate the way they do their manufacturing. Due to this in the packaging industry, sustainable packaging and low carbon foot print are some of the terminologies being discussed today globally and being mandated by consumer companies. What is sustainable packaging? How energy curing, and in particular electron beam curing, is the only curing option providing sustainable packaging will be discussed.

12.15 - 14.00h   Luncheon