New sustainable polymers: a greener future for commercial inkjet printing

新型可持续聚合物：商业喷墨印刷的绿色未来

• 批准号: 2602075
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Aston University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2602075
• 关键词: New; sustainable; polymers; greener; future

Currently, the world is at a critical point. There are endless issues that require urgent attention such as sustainable materials, clean energy, and climate change. The scientific community has the ability to address these challenges, including the responsibility for the maintenance of our planet.With ongoing trends in the food packaging industry, including batch-of-one operations, Industry 4.0 and the digitisation of manufacturing, there is now a demand for production flexibility and improved product traceability. Environmental sustainability is now also highly demanded from consumers, brand owners, governments and non-government organizations (NGOs), where products with a reduced environmental burden are required. Digital printing techniques are seen as a cost-effective way of printing variable data and product branding and, as such, are displacing traditional printing methods. Inkjet printing is the technology used universally to print images and text on a range of absorbent media (including food packaging). Solvent based ink formulations, commonly used in the printing of identification marks, have good durability and dry quickly due to the presence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). As VOCs are hazardous to both health and the environment, there is a market desire to transition away from their use. Aqueous based inks involve the use of water, which is readily available and non-harmful to the environment. However, there are additional problems to overcome when dealing with water-based inks including drying time, durability (without the use of primers and varnishes) and adherence to specific (hydrophobic) materials. From this it can be established that there is a pressing need for a VOC-free inkjet formulations suitable for printing onto food packaging, which combines the robustness and fast drying properties of UV and solvent inks with the environmental credentials of aqueous technologies. This project will address this need by developing novel, curable materials which can be deposited from water. It will build on a previous collaboration between Domino Printing Sciences and Aston to develop a new UV-curable polymer technology platform. This recent research has unveiled the use of reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerisation to create block copolymers with the desired amphiphilic characteristics. RAFT is a versatile and robust technique that allows for control over many other characteristics including molecular architecture, molar mass, mass dispersity and chain-end functionality. These synthesised polymer additives make a great addition to aqueous ink formulations, successfully enhancing their characteristics as well as enabling thermal crosslinking. Current research is to synthesise UV triggerable block copolymers, which would reduce the energy required for heating during the crosslinking process. This research project revolves around the next step of considering the contents of the ink formulation and the environmental damage it may cause. Using monomers in the polymerisation process that are readily available from our environment/renewable resources (e.g plant oils) rather than from petroleum would significantly further increase the sustainability of the aqueous ink formulations. Ultimately, researching to create a new water-based ink formulation has the potential to make real-world impact; completely disregarding the use of harsh chemicals that contribute to the deterioration of our environment would revolutionise the world in which we live in.

目前，世界正处于一个关键时刻。有无数的问题需要迫切关注，如可持续材料，清洁能源和气候变化。科学界有能力应对这些挑战，包括维护地球的责任。随着食品包装行业的发展趋势，包括一次批量生产、工业4.0和制造业数字化，现在需要生产灵活性和提高产品可追溯性。消费者、品牌所有者、政府和非政府组织（NGO）现在也对环境可持续性提出了很高的要求，这些组织需要减少环境负担的产品。数字印刷技术被视为印刷可变数据和产品品牌的一种具有成本效益的方式，因此正在取代传统的印刷方法。喷墨打印是一种普遍用于在一系列吸收性介质（包括食品包装）上打印图像和文本的技术。通常用于印刷识别标记的溶剂基油墨制剂由于挥发性有机化合物（VOC）的存在而具有良好的耐久性和快速干燥。由于VOC对健康和环境都是有害的，因此市场希望从其使用过渡。水基油墨涉及水的使用，水容易获得并且对环境无害。然而，当处理水基油墨时，还有其他问题需要克服，包括干燥时间、耐久性（不使用底漆和清漆）和对特定（疏水）材料的粘附性。由此可以确定，迫切需要一种适用于印刷到食品包装上的无VOC喷墨制剂，其将UV和溶剂油墨的稳健性和快速干燥特性与水性技术的环境证书相结合。该项目将通过开发可从水中沉积的新型可固化材料来满足这一需求。它将建立在多米诺印刷科学公司和阿斯顿之前的合作基础上，开发一种新的紫外光固化聚合物技术平台。这项最新的研究揭示了可逆加成-断裂链转移（RAFT）聚合的使用，以创建具有所需两亲性特征的嵌段共聚物。RAFT是一种通用且稳健的技术，其允许控制许多其他特征，包括分子结构、摩尔质量、质量分散度和链端官能度。这些合成的聚合物添加剂对水性油墨配方有很大的帮助，成功地增强了它们的特性，并实现了热交联。目前的研究是合成可UV交联的嵌段共聚物，这将减少交联过程中加热所需的能量。该研究项目围绕着下一步考虑油墨配方的内容及其可能造成的环境破坏。在聚合过程中使用容易从我们的环境/可再生资源（例如植物油）而不是从石油获得的单体将显著地进一步增加水性油墨制剂的可持续性。最终，研究创造一种新的水性油墨配方有可能产生现实影响;完全无视使用导致环境恶化的苛刻化学品将彻底改变我们生活的世界。