Printing
Printing technology undergoes continuous development, with regard to both machine design and process operation, which in turn poses new demands on the material properties needed to stand the pace.
All printing processes require control of the dynamic interactions between press or delivery system, ink and paper. Printing research must build from a foundation of common knowledge of surface chemistry to analyze the generic phenomena such as ink wetting, spreading, leveling, merging, diffusion, absorption, drying etc. within the specific context and demands of each particular printing process.
The research area of Printing is of special interest to the pulp and paper industries and their chemical and machine suppliers, the graphic arts industry and their ink and machine suppliers and the converting and packaging industries and their customers.
Activities include
- Stability, rheology and surface tension of inks
- Wetting, spreading and penetration of liquid inks (inkjet, flexography) on paper
- Adsorption of ink dyes and binder polymers to paper
- Printed functionality, for example as sensors or indicators
The packaging and converting area is of growing importance. The relation between printing and packaging is natural because they are inherently linked; most packages are printed and several printing techniques is often used on the same package.