PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

SUMALATHA.G.S -100935008

PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
Current scenario Advantages of biobased materials Main challenges Producers & manufactures Objective of the study

2. LITERATURE REVIEW
- Biobase materials - Evolving biobased materials - Polylactic Acid production, properties, degradation, application

3. METHODOLOGY
Designing Ripping Plate making Surface treatment for the substrate, Printing Testing & measurement
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PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

CONTENTS
4. RESULT ANALYSIS
- Dot gain - Tone reproduction

- Optical/reflective density
- Dyne levels - Type quality - Dot shape

- Specular gloss
- Rub resistance - Ink adhesion - Runnability

- Tensile strength
- Dirty print

5. CONCLUSION & SCOPE OF FUTURE WORK 6. REFERENCE

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PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

INTRODUCTION
Public concern is growing on two fronts- Life cycle of packaging products
Reduce, Reuse And Recycle !! No one wants a landfill in their neighborhood.

FORCAST: Use of plastics & its disposal may grow in future (10 times by 2030)

Bio plastic packaging products have emerged as a viable alternative to

traditional plastics.

Awareness of bio-based packaging materials, is having a significant increase.

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PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

INTRODUCTION (continued.)
Use of bio-based films in packaging industry is increasing in food and beverage markets as these films are used for pouches, shrink and roll-fed labels, flexible packaging and food trays.

PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

INTRODUCTION (continued.)
ADVANTAGES being: Made from agricultural feed stocks, 100% bio degradable, high surface energy, clarity, flexibility, heat resistance, can be re-engineered to form any shapes, easy processing techniques, easily disposable, recyclable, minimum pollution to the environment.

PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

INTRODUCTION (continued.)
The use of these bio-based products will likely accelerate in the short term because of: 1. Regulation- especially in countries like Europe, USA, INDIA, etc. 2. Cost reduction as supply of bio plastics increases coupled with rising
oil prices.

3. Marketing by brand owners around carbon footprint reduction. 4. Consumer demand for environmentally-friendly products. 5. Mass marketers requiring a supply base which incorporates
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sustainable materials.

Source: Energy cure flexographic inks for PLA films, Andrew Seecharan

PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

INTRODUCTION (continued.)
Growth estimates for bioplastics are typically 20% to 30% year by year

But it is dependent on the rate at which the supply chain is developed.

However, consumer adoption of the relatively new technology will depend

a great deal on how well convenience, safety and cost compare to

the established petroleum-based products.

CHALLENGES????
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Source: Energy cure flexographic inks for PLA films, Andrew Seecharan

PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

INTRODUCTION (continued.)
Main Challenges: 1. A possible draw on food resources which causes food prices to increase. 2. Infrastructure for optimal disposal of bio-based films.

3. Suitability for microwaveable, hot-fill and extreme storage conditions. 4. Shelf-life of a packaging material which decomposes especially in a heated environment. 5. Possible equipment and ink modification to accommodate the new

substrates.
6. Differences in functional properties.
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Source: Energy cure flexographic inks for PLA films, Andrew Seecharan

PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

INTRODUCTION (continued.)
Producers and Manufactures: 1. NATURE WORKS INGEO, Nature works PLA, 2. P & G - NODAX 3. TEIJIN - BIOFRONT 4. BIOTEC- BIOPLAST 5. TIANAN- ENMAT 6. EASTMAN EASTAR BIO 7. DUPONT - BIOMAX
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Source: Product overview and market projection of emerging bio-based plastics- Report 2009

PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

INTRODUCTION (continued.)
Objective of this study:
To review the literatures about biobased materials. To study the basic properties, production & application of PLA. To perform printability on Polylactic Acid using water based inks. To analyze the performance of Polylactic Acid in comparison with Poly Ethylene Terephthalate (PET) , OPP & OPS

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PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

LITERATURE REVIEW
BIOBASED MATERIALS: Biobased packaging materials are materials derived from renewable sources like CORN, POTATO, PEAS, WHEAT, SUGARCANE & WASTE FOOD.

These materials can be used for applications like for food packaging,
garbage, bio implantation, drugs, bio fuels, industrial products, electronic goods, cosmetics packaging, etc

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Source: Biobased Packaging materials for food Industry

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PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

LITERATURE REVIEW (continued.)

Forecast : Future biodegradable plastic market

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LITERATURE REVIEW (continued.)

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Source: Polylactic Acid: Synthesis, Properties and Applications, L. Avrous

PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

LITERATURE REVIEW (continued.)

Evolving biobased plastics suitable for films are:

1. PLA Poly Lactic Acid

2. PHAs Polyhydroxy alkanoates

3. TPS Thermoplastic starch

4. Starch blends

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PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

LITERATURE REVIEW (continued.)

Evolving biobased plastics suitable for films are:

1. PLA Poly Lactic Acid

2. PHAs Polyhydroxy alkanoates

3. TPS Thermoplastic starch

4. Starch blends

PLA Poly Lactic Acid

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PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

LITERATURE REVIEW (continued.)

Polylactic Acid : Bio polyester - Derived from lactic acid.

- History Since 1845 Dupont 1954, Cargill dow 1997 .

- Carbohydrate feedstock: Maize, Corn, Wheat, Whey, etc,. - Has been received well in medical and packaging industry.

-Due to its ability to be hydrolyzed, it has been studied for bio

absorbable medical device, surgical implantation, Sutures, drug delivery system application, etc. - In packaging they are used for loose-fill packages, compost bags, food packaging, disposable tableware, etc.
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- It has been researched for its adaptability to many applications.

PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

LITERATURE REVIEW (continued.)

PLA growth trends by geography, 2009 to 2016

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LITERATURE REVIEW (continued.)

Number of works published since 1960 based on Scholars Portal Search

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Source: Poly(lactic Acid): Synthesis, Structures, Properties, Processing, and Application by Rafael et al.

PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

LITERATURE REVIEW (continued.)

Polylactic Acid : Synthesis
Catalyst: either syndiotactic or a heterotactic stereocontrol Or tin chloride

Manufacturing Of Poly Lactic Acid (PLA) at Cargill Dow LLC

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Source: Wikipedia Poly Lactic Acid

PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

LITERATURE REVIEW (continued.)

Life Cycle of Polylactic Acid

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Source: Wikipedia Poly Lactic Acid

PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

LITERATURE REVIEW (continued.)

Polylactic Acid : Properties - Processing, crystallization and degradation behavior of PLA

depends on structure and composition of polymer chains.

- It can be semi crystalline/ amorphous in nature - Crystalline 37%, Blend PLLA & PDLA High crystalline.

- Glass transition temperature between 60 to 65 C.

- Melting temperature between 173 to 178 C.
- Tensile modulus between 2.7 to 16 Gpa.

- Heat resistant PLA temp - 110 C up to 190 C. - Similar mechanical properties to PET.
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- It can be processed like most thermoplastics in to fiber and film.

PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

LITERATURE REVIEW (continued.)

Polylactic Acid : Properties continued. - Surface Energy 38 to 36 dyne level.

- Film heat seal-ability 80 C

- Chemical resistance Good solvent & grease resistance - Optical Properties Gloss at 20 degree 90%; Haze 2%; - Biodegradability Under real landfill 15 months Under real waste water treatment 15 months Under Compositing plant condition 30 days - Recycling 98% accuracy in separating, using NIR detection technology. Thermal depolymerization Cradle to Cradle recycling
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Source: Product overview and market projection of emerging bio-based plastics- PRO-BIP 2009

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LITERATURE REVIEW (continued.)

Polylactic Acid : Degradation
Degradation under Compositing plant condition

Degradation under waste water treatment

Degradation under real landfill

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PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

LITERATURE REVIEW (continued.)

Polylactic Acid : Applications - Containers, pressure-sensitive bottle labels, candy wraps, Carry bags, Cold
beverage cups, clamshells, bottle cap, etc,.
Woven shirts, microwavable trays, tissue engineering,

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PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

METHODOLOGY

DESINING the Test Target RIPPING PLATE MAKING

SURFACE TREATMENT FOR THE SUBSTRATE

PRINTING AND DRYING

TESTING AND MEASUREMENT

ANALYSIS

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PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

METHODOLOGY continued.
1. Designing the test target: - Was designed using an Adobe Illustrator. - The image contains vector and raster images a solid strip, slur targets,

TEST TARGET

multiple point sizes (font), regular and reverse print,

1 through 100 percent density patches,

greyscale images, white and black image and some gradient strips.
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PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

METHODOLOGY continued.
2. RIPPING: - The file was ripped through Esko's Cyrel Digital Imager (CDl) Spark

System using Esko's Suite 7 workflow.

- Machine was calibrated before processing.

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PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

METHODOLOGY continued.
3. PLATE MAKING: - Plate was set at 150 line screen ruling - Circular dot shape - 68 degree angle - The vertical distortion scaling was set to 96.751 percent.

- Carbon masked plate was used.

- Main exposure using Esko's Cyrel Digital Imager (CDl) - Back exposure, washing and post exposure using Dupont Cyrel FAST Exposure Unit . - The finished Plate was measured using BetaFlex334 system for dot % 31

PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

METHODOLOGY continued.
4. SURFACE TREATMENT FOR THE SUBSTRATE - Ink adhesion test was performed. - The surface energy of PLA was tested using Accudyne test solution. - Requirement of dyne level (surface energy) for substrates: For most of the Solvent based inks 36 to 40 dynes/cm of substrate

For water based inks 40 to 44 dynes/cm of substrate

laminating and coating 50 & above dynes/cm of substrate - Surface tension of water based inks 36 dynes PET & PP plastic - Surface energy of PLA 36 to 38 dynes.
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PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

METHODOLOGY continued.
4. SURFACE TREATMENT FOR THE SUBSTRATE - Solution for low surface energy of PLA: Surface treatment - Corona or plasma treatment to get higher surface energy.

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PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

METHODOLOGY continued.
5. PRINTING - A draw-down test with the anilox-roll hand proofer was used to test

ink adhesion.
- Once dried, a crinkle test determined that the adhesion was acceptable to print on press.

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PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

METHODOLOGY continued.
5. PRINTING - Conventional methods were performed to setup the press.

- Manual deck settings

- Constants that can be controlled include: viscosity, pH, anilox roll, speed, dryer, and tension. - Prior to running the ink on press, a Zahn cup was used to measure the viscosity of the ink. - Result of Viscosity testing of ink: 50.9 sec - PH Level for water based was: 8 to 9.5 - About 700 feet of film was printed.
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PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

METHODOLOGY continued.
5. PRINTING - Press Speed: 50 feets per min

- Dyer positioned at 3rd stage with 167 degree F.

- Tension was set up to 20 psi - Order of printing: white PLA, clear PLA, PET, OPP, and OPS .

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PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

METHODOLOGY continued.
5. TESTING AND MEASUREMENT - dot area, - tone reproduction,

- optical/reflective density,
- specular gloss, - dot shape,

- visual tests,
- rub resistance, - adhesion, and tensile strength
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PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

RESULT ANALYSIS
1. DOT GAIN 2. TONE REPRODUCTION 3. OPTICAL/REFLECTIVE DENSITY 4. DYNE LEVELS 5. TYPE QUALITY 6. DOT SHAPE 7. SPECULAR GLOSS 8. RUB RESISTANCE 9. INK ADHESION

10. RUNNABILITY
11. TENSILE STRENGTH 12. DIRTY PRINT
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PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

RESULT ANALYSIS (Continued.)

1. DOT GAIN - The largest dot gain occurred between 35% to 55% for all the films. - Measurement using : Xrite 528 system
29.3% gain at 40 % dot 24.7% gain at 40 % dot 31.2 % gain at 40 % dot

29 % gain at 40 % dot
27.9% gain at 40 % dot

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PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

RESULT ANALYSIS (Continued.)

2. TONE REPRODUCTION - No difference between the materials, hard to compare. - White PLA- smooth curve- helps in compensation of dot gain in prepress.

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PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

RESULT ANALYSIS (Continued.)

3. OPTICAL/ REFLECTIVE DENSITIES - Density standard is 1.4 for black ink on film products using narrow web. Instrument: Xrite 528 Spectrodensitometer - All of the densities printed had higher densities than the standard.

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PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

RESULT ANALYSIS (Continued.)

4. DYNE LEVELS -Natural dyne level of clear PLA is about 38 and the white PLA had a dyne level of about 36. - PET had about 39 dynes, - OPP had about 37 dynes, - OPS had about 37 dynes.

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PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

RESULT ANALYSIS (Continued.)

5. TYPE QUALITY -Quality images visual comparison - Using ImageXpert system. - White PLA, PET, OPP, clear PLA and OPS films. BEST.................................................WORST

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PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

RESULT ANALYSIS (Continued.)

6. DOT SHAPE - To determine the roundness of the five percent dots on each film. - The dot roundness was defined by the ratio of the circumference of a circle with the same average radius to the perimeter length of the dot. - Ideal number to achieve is 1. - PET- highest dyne level corresponding to 1.

PET

Clear PLA

White PLA

OPP

OPS

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PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

RESULT ANALYSIS (Continued.)

7. RUB RESISTANCE - TMI Ink Rub Tester.

- 2 x 4 in & 2 x 6 in strips
- four-pound test block on top of the based - 100 cycles at 42 cycles per minute - Visual test was performed - Clear PLA film had the poorest rub resistance. - Closely followed by the white PLA film. - The OPS film had the next worse rub resistance. - The OPP and PET films had the best rub resistance.
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PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

RESULT ANALYSIS (Continued.)

8. DIRTY PRINT

Clear PLA

OPP

OPS

PET

White PLA

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PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

RESULT ANALYSIS (Continued.)

SUMMARY
GLOSS Dyne Dot gain WHITE PLA 4 4 CLEAR PLA 2 1 PET 1 5 OPP 3 3 OPS 3 2

Tone Reproduction
Density Type Quality Dot Shape Specular gloss

1
1 1 2 2

4
2 4 2 1

3
5 2 1 4

2
3 3 3 5

5
4 5 4 3
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Rating: 1- Best to 5 -Worst

PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

RESULT ANALYSIS (Continued.)

SUMMARY continued
GLOSS
Rub resistance Ink Adhesion Tensile Strength Dirty Print Average Score

WHITE PLA
4 4 2 1 2.36

CLEAR PLA
5 5 1 2 2.64

PET
1 1 3 3 2.64

OPP
2 2 4 4 3.09

OPS
3 3 5 5 3.82

Rating: 1- Best to 5 -Worst

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PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

CONCLUSION
It seems that the white and clear PLA films are most comparable to the PET film. Even though the ink was formulated for pp and pet, the white and clear PLA out performed OPP in the majority of the printability and runnability tests.

The white PLA film out performed the PET film, which was also white.
The clear PLA film performed equally as well as the PET film. If the PLA films used custom formulated ink, they would have likely out performed all of the films. Natureworks recommends using Akzo nobel's hydrokett3000 or hydrofilm 4000 water-base inks for good ink adhesion.
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CONCLUSION (continued)
Given time, PLA may replace some of the most common plastic films

used in the food industry.

It is difficult for a new film to break into a market that has twenty or more years of established film lines. Advancements are continuously being made to the structure of PLA to enable for using in more applications.

The PLA films are already ideal for many of the same applications other
petroleum-derived films are used for today.

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PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

SCOPE FOR FUTURE WORK

Biobased plastics have experienced fast growth in the past decade.
Numerous factors influence future biobased material technology

developments political & legislative changes, consumer demands,

global request especially for the food & energy resources.

In India, a biobased packaging material working group can be formed.

That will speed up the process of knowledge exchange between

academic worlds, the industry, government institutions & finally

commercialize the product to reach the end user.
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PRINTABILITY PERFORMANCE OF BIOBASED MATERIALS

REFERENCES
1. J. Jacobson, M. Keif, X. Rong, J. Singh And K. Vorst, (2009) Flexography Printing Performance of PLAFilm,Cal Poly State University 2. Andrew Seecharan (2009) Energy Cure (EC) Flexographic Inks for PLA Film

3. Rafael A. Auras, Loong-Tak Lim, Susan E. M. Selke, Hideto Tsuji,(2010)

Poly(lactic Acid): Synthesis, Structures, Properties, Processing, and Application , Wiley publications 4. Dr. Semih tles, Serkan tles (2004) Biobased packaging materials for the food industry Types of Biobased Packaging Materials. 5. Walle, van der G.A.M, Koning, de G.J.M., Weusthuis, R.A. and Eggink, G. Properties, modifications and applications of biopolyesters In: Advances in

Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology Volume 71, Steinbuchel, A. and Babel,

W. (Eds.), Springer Verlag 6. David E. Henton, Patrick Gruber, Jim Lunt, and Jed Randall, (2005) Polylactic Acid Technology.
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REFERENCES
7. http://graphics.tech.uh.edu/courses/3350/materials/Offset_Inks.pdf 8. http://www.accudynetest.com/adt_introduction.html

9. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soy_ink
10. http://www.ehow.co.uk/list_7476524_properties-soy-ink.html 11. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polylactic_acid 12. http://www.creativepro.com/article/eco-friendly-inks 13.

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THANK YOU

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