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What Are Plastisol Inks?

Plastisol inks are the predominant type of ink used today to create prints and designs on clothing. Applied via screen printing processes, they form durable, flexible films that cure and adhere to the surface of fabrics. Typically, plastisol inks consist of PVC resins, plasticizers, and additives.
 

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Are Plastisol Inks Eco-friendly?

In recent times, plastisol inks have come under scrutiny from a sustainability standpoint due to the presence of chlorine in PVC, the inclusion of potentially hazardous plasticizers, their difficulty in recycling, and the high energy inputs required to cure. Improving the sustainability of plastisol inks requires alternative chemistries that provide equivalent performance for screen printing companies.
 

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What Is Acrylic Resin Powder LP?

Mitsubishi Chemical Group’s Acrylic Resin Powder LP is a line of sustainable alternatives for PVC resins that improve performance and energy efficiency in plastisol ink applications. They are acrylic resins for plastisol inks offered in a core-shell polymer format. Their core-shell structure uniquely combines attributes such as hardness, strength, film-forming properties, and softness that cannot be achieved by other types of resin formats. When acrylic resins are substituted for PVC in plastisols, they are also known as acrylic plastisols.
 

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How Does Acrylic Resin Powder LP Compare to PVC for Plastisol Inks?

Compared to PVC, Acrylic Resin Powder LP offers the following benefits to screen printing ink formulators.
 

As mentioned above, Acrylic Resin Powder LP provides advantages in terms of sustainability because it does not contain halogen content. This reduces environmental contamination risk and decomplicates recycling processes. In addition, with a relatively lower gelation temperature, less energy is required to cure the inks. The graph below illustrates this point.

Durability is also improved versus PVC plastisol inks by developing higher film strength and better elongation properties at lower temperatures and having better stability of both strength and elongation at higher temperatures. The graphs below illustrate this.

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Starting Formulations and Formulation Considerations

Two Acrylic Resin Powder LP grades are offered for acrylic plastisols: LP-3202 and LP-3207. Starting formulations for both resins are presented below.

LP-3202

LP-3207

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Additional Formulation Considerations

Blocked isocyanates such as TDI and HMDI can improve the performance of plastisol inks made with Acrylic Resin Powder LP. Tests have shown improvements in washing resistance and crocking resistance on PET fabric. Acrylic Resin Powder LP is also compatible with additives such as BYK-302 and CERAFLUOR to improve crocking resistance if desired.

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Summary

Mitsubishi Chemical Group’s Acrylic Resin Powder LP products are sustainable replacements of PVC resins used in plastisol inks. They do not contain halogens, reducing environmental health and safety risks and creating fewer issues for recycling procedures. Since Acrylic Resin Powder LP gels at lower temperatures, they also help screen printing ink companies save on energy costs. Formulations containing these resins also enable better elongatiofn properties and are more stable at higher temperature ranges. Click below to speak to one of our technical representatives and request a sample of Acrylic Resin Powder LP for plastisol inks.
 

^{Mesamoll® is a registered trademark of LANXESS AG.
Hexamoll® is a registered trademark of BASF SE.
Benzoflex™ is a registered trademark of Eastman Chemical Company.}