Ink Bonding Properties of Electron Beam Cured Adhesive Lamiates for Flexible Packaging, 2006 PLACE Conference

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The advantages of Electron Beam laminating adhesives have been previously described.1-8 The most significant advantage is that full bond strength is achieved immediately upon curing. This allows immediate slitting and shipping of the laminated product. Instant bonding also allows in-line integration of the laminating process with other converting steps. This may include printing, slitting, sheeting, or the addition of subsequent laminate layers.

In a previous study excellent bond performance was demonstrated with multiple flexible packaging substrates. The laminates also exhibited excellent water and food product resistance. This study was limited to unprinted substrates.9 In practice, most commercial packaging laminations involve the use of printed films. Since it is desirable to protect the graphics, printing is usually on the inside surface of the outermost ply of the package. In this type of construction the adhesive is in direct contact with the ink; therefore, the adhesive/ink interaction plays a key roll in the performance of the laminate. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of current commercial ink systems with EB curable laminating adhesives.