"DESINK"
DESINK- DEVELOPMENT OF FUNCTIONAL INKS BASED ON MICRO AND NANOCARGAS FOR APPLICATION AS COATINGS IN DIFFERENT INDUSTRIAL SECTORS
DESCRIPTION
In areas with high pedestrian traffic, commercial or public areas, materials with high technical performance are required, especially resistance to wear.
Currently there are floors, both ceramic and wood materials that reach high resistance, but their manufacturing processes have associated a series of disadvantages (material, low flexibility, cost, VOCs, etc.), different for each of the two substrates, that with inkjet printing are partly overcome. Hence the interest in this technology, although high resistance has not been achieved for high traffic areas.
On the other hand, the materials most used in food packaging are plastic materials, given their low cost and weight, but they have the disadvantage of their relatively high gas permeability, which decreases the shelf life of the food they contain. To increase this barrier, multilayer systems of various materials are currently used, which have high production and material costs and add difficulty for recycling.
With the aim of solving the existing problems in these three key areas of the productive fabric of the Valencian Community, this project aims to develop functional coatings that will reduce wear on ceramic tiles and wood-derived floors with inkjet printing designs and improve the gas barrier of plastic packaging materials.
In order to achieve the required properties, inorganic fillers of different particle sizes will be used, as well as graphene (developed during the project), with a particle size and functionalization suitable for its application through the existing printing systems in the market for inkjet and flexo applications .
OBJECTIVES
The general objective of the project is the development of new transparent coatings for surface protection that are printable by inkjet and / or applicable by spraying, in the case of ceramic surfaces and floors derived from wood, and flexo, in the case of plastic materials , with improved technical performance for surface wear protection and improvement of the packaging barrier. For this, coatings based on micro and nanometric mineral loads and conveniently functionalized graphene will be developed.
In the case of ceramic flooring, the novelty is the development of inks, for inkjet applications that give rise to ceramic flooring with at least the same performance in terms of wear resistance as those obtained with traditional techniques (spray and dry application of loads).
In the case of wooden floors, the main novelty of the project is the development of protective coatings, of the designs applied by means of inkjet, water-based, and with high technical performance in terms of wear resistance, for the flexible manufacturing of floors to from materials derived from wood, mainly MDF and HDF. For this, we will work on the development of two different types of transparent protective coatings, both water-based, to be applied with different technologies but with the same purpose, to achieve high resistance to wear, without compromising the transparency or elasticity of the products base, while ensuring perfect adhesion between layers. For both coatings, we will study the use of the same type of mineral, micro and nanometric charges, which will be selected and characterized during the project, as well as graphene, in low concentrations to avoid appearance problems in both types of developments.
Finally, with respect to the decrease in gas permeability of the containers, the graphene used in the two previous case studies will also be used. This graphene will be functionalized with the appropriate surface chemistry to improve the dispersion in the ink and prepare the composite materials that will be incorporated into the different formulations of the project. In addition, its use together with other anti-wear materials contemplated in the project, will reduce the abrasion of inkjet heads. On the other hand, based on the investigations carried out, a synergistic effect is expected in its use together with nano-clays in polymeric nanocomposites, improving the gas barrier (oxygen and water vapor) of the current packaging materials.
The achievement of these coatings, would mean that the application of decorative designs using inkjet, with all its associated advantages, would be a real alternative to the existing processes for the manufacture of floors with high wear resistance, more expensive processes in terms of time, energy and materials, as well as little flexible for short runs. In general, these two lines of research will contribute to developing flexible manufacturing processes for floors with wood-derived materials.
RESULTS OBTAINED
Year 2016: The technical requirements that the final products must meet have been established.
Testing methods from the different sectors involved in the project have been compared.
Commercial loads with the appropriate characteristics have been selected for their different uses in this project.
Work has been done to obtain graphene based on the mechanical exfoliation method.
Work has been done on the functionalization of nanoclays, as well as on the development of protective coatings for the design printed on ceramic and wood substrates.
Deliverables:
PUBLISHED NEWS
general broadcast
PARTNERS
ITENE-TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF PACKAGING, TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS, AIDIMME - METAL-MECHANICAL TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, FURNITURE, WOOD, PACKAGING AND RELATED, AICE-CERAMIC RESEARCH ASSOCIATION - COORDINATOR,
GRANT
108.900,00 €
