Inks
This chapter discusses the components of a packaging ink, its vehicle and its pigment. The vehicle serves as a solid chemical matrix in which the colored pigment is suspended. The vehicle must have the ability to keep the pigment suspended in the ink’s fluid and cured forms. A pigment represents a complex organic chemical that differentially absorbs and transmits wave lengths of light to give the impression of color to an observer. Packaging inks require a curing process of some sort to transform the ink from its fluid state to its solid, cured state. Traditionally, this has been accomplished by drying a volatile solvent or water from the ink and allowing the vehicle to cross-link in solid form into a stable layer. Energy-cured inks use ...
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