Breakthrough with Photoinitiators for Packaging Inks

With Irgacure 270, BASF made a technological breakthrough in the development of cationic photoinitiators for packaging inks. For the first time, Irgacure 270 now makes it possible to combine fast UV curing with very low emissions. This new product is very versatile, and its applications include both UV-curable printing inks and clear overprint varnishes.

Photoinitiators are substances that form free radicals when they are exposed to UV light, and these radicals initiate polymerization reactions. Irgacure 270 is a new high-molecular-weight sulfonium salt which fulfills the high standards that UV-curable inks for food packaging are required to meet. Extensive tests have shown that emissions and migration are both very low. A complete registration package has been put together.

Irgacure 270 is mainly employed in UV-curable applications that demand low-emissions. These include clear overprint varnishes, flexographic inks, screen inks and inkjet inks for printing food packaging made from a variety of substrates such as paperboard, plastics and metal.