Analysis of UV-cured and thermally-cured inkjet printed poly (Lactic Acid) fabrics

Karim, Nazmul, Rigout, Muriel, Yeates, Stephen G and Carr, Chris (2014) Analysis of UV-cured and thermally-cured inkjet printed poly (Lactic Acid) fabrics. International Conference on Digital Printing Technologies, Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown Hotel, Philadelphia, United States. 07 Sep 2014 - 12 Feb 2015 .

Abstract

Inkjet printing of Poly (Lactic Acid) (PLA) fabrics using UV-curable inks is of interest due to the thermal sensitivity of PLA and the opportunity for “ambient” temperature curing of the surface ink. In this study, PLA fabrics were printed with Mimaki LH – 100, LF – 140 and LF – 200 UV-curable inks and Mexar thermal inks using a Mimaki UJF – 3042 LED UV inkjet printer and R-Jet 4 DTG printer, respectively. The prints of CMYK colours printed with UV-curable and thermal inks were cured at ambient temperature using a UV LED device and at 150°C for 5 minutes using heat press machine, respectively. The colour fastness properties, Kawabata Evaluation System (KES-F) mechanical properties and bursting strength of the printed samples were evaluated and surface topography using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysed. UV-curable inkjet printed PLA fabrics provided better or similar colour fastness and better handle than that of thermally-cured inkjet printed PLA fabrics. The curing condition appeared not to have any effect on the bursting strength of UV curable inkjet printed fabrics; however bursting strength of thermally-cured prints reduced significantly after curing.

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Contributors

Author: Nazmul Karim

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