Comparison of advantages and disadvantages between

Comparison of advantages and disadvantages between EB ink and UV ink

as we all know, EB ink and UV ink have some advantages. Compared with general inks, the main advantage of energy curing inks is that they do not pollute the environment. UV or EB inks and coatings have a curing degree of almost 100%, and their components do not contain VOC (organic volatile matter) harmful to human body and the environment

in addition, the printed matter printed with UV and EB inks has beautiful appearance and excellent resistance, which increases the gloss and three-dimensional sense of the printed matter. Compared with ordinary inks, energy curing inks can dry and fix in an instant, making online operations of printing, coating, polishing and compounding possible

using UV and EB inks for printing can also reduce the cleaning time of the printing machine, because UV and EB inks on the ink bucket or printing machine, compared with glass fiber composites, will not appear crusting and hardening even if they are stored for one night, so the waste of ink is reduced

once the printing factory decides to use energy curing ink for printing, weighing the advantages and disadvantages of EB ink and UV ink will be put on the agenda. In terms of cost, the price of EB ink is very close to that of UV ink. Expensive photoinitiators (photosensitizers) are not required in the formulation of EB ink, but other expensive raw materials are combined in the formulation of EB ink to give printed matter exquisite printing effect and good resistance in special applications

Mike McGowan, sales and marketing director of energy curing ink of Sun Chemical ink company, said: "The biggest difference between UV ink and EB ink in terms of function should be their different applications in food packaging and printing. In food packaging and printing, EB ink has stable and uniform printing effect, good repeatability, and there is no photoinitiator in the ink composition. Therefore, the printing smell of EB ink is less, and the migration of components in the ink is less."

although the initial cost of EB ink is slightly higher than that of UV ink, the performance of EB ink is better. Sometimes printed matter may need to be laminated with three layers of film on its surface, so that the printed matter can be dried and fixed on both sides in an instant. With EB ink printing, the printing speed can be as high as 3000 feet/minute. The energy consumption of current EB curing equipment shows a downward trend, making EB ink printing more efficient

jonathan, director of UV/EB technical services of INX international ink company, believes that the advantage of EB ink is that the curing degree is sufficient, especially the curing of thick ink film is relatively complete, the smell is small, and there will be no strong heat that will lead to the deformation of the print during the curing; Its disadvantages are large capital investment and high operation cost, and the floor space of EB curing device and nitrogen container is limited

the raw material cost of preparing EB ink is usually lower than that of UV ink

Jonathan said, "because EB ink does not need photoinitiator (photosensitizer) Therefore, the cost of EB ink raw materials is lower than that of UV ink raw materials. However, when we measure the overall cost of EB ink, we must also consider another factor affecting the cost. Because the purity of raw materials is very high to obtain low odor EB ink, the price of highly purified raw materials is higher. At the same time, the purity analysis of raw materials and finished inks in the laboratory is also one of the cost factors to be considered. In addition, the operation and maintenance of EB curing equipment also requires a lot of research and development costs; The testing of ink products also requires a certain cost. "

nevertheless, EB ink and UV ink have their own characteristics, so it is also a difficult problem to choose between them.

Jonathan continued," the comparison between EB ink and UV ink is not an easy thing, because they have their own advantages and disadvantages. They really should be treated as completely different processes. "

flint ink (Flint) Rodney Barr, the company's technical director, defaults that it is not easy to directly compare EB ink and UV ink. Basically, the current EB ink printing process is limited to the rotary printing machine, which may change in the future. The curing of EB ink must be in inert air, so nitrogen is required during curing. The price of EB curing system shows a downward trend. In fact, the cost of EB curing system may be lower than the renovation cost of installing UV lamps in the unit room of rotary printing brush machine

on the other hand, EB ink has some obvious advantages over UV ink: it will not release ozone; Cold curing without heat source; Curing is not affected by ink color; The curing depth is more thorough; There is no photoinitiator, so the smell is small

every printing company has different needs for the bottom line of print performance and overall printing cost. Compared with UV curing ink printing, the product quality of EB ink printing is more stable, and the prediction of curing degree for different printing parts is more reliable. Compared with UV ink, the curing degree of EB ink is more uniform and stable, which has nothing to do with the size of oil to confirm the hardness of the material, ink color and ink film thickness. Because EB ink does not need photoinitiators, EB ink prints have little or no odor. UV curing lamp has complex structure, so it is difficult to maintain

due to the high cost of EB curing equipment, many printing companies often make the purchase decision in the end. If the printing company uses EB ink to print plastic film, the printing factory will worry that EB ink will degrade the plastic film and eventually affect the integrity of the plastic film. In addition, like UV ink, EB curing equipment is not suitable to be installed between units of multi-color printing machine. If such a strategy is adopted, the equipment cost is very expensive. Some printing plants install UV curing units between units, and install EB curing units at the end of the printing machine to cure the printed matter