Synthesis and characterisation of a non-halogenated water-based functional additive to improve ink-adhesion on untreated polypropylene surfaces

Abstract

The urge to protect the deteriorating ecosystem is compelling us to make use of eco-friendly products. The current work attempts to develop eco-friendly ink additives to enhance adhesion on untreated polypropylene (PP) substrates. The additive synthesis was carried out in two steps. The first step comprises solution polymerisation of isobornyl methacrylate (IBOMA) and acrylic acid (AA), followed by emulsion polymerisation of butyl acrylate (BA), methyl methacrylate (MMA) and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA). The additive was designed in such a way that p(IBOMA-co-AA) will migrate out and stabilise the emulsion copolymerised p(BA-co-MMA-co-GMA). The p(IBOMA-co-AA) and the final step of the synthesised additive had 107 °C and 20 °C T g , respectively. The additive was characterised by different techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), dynamic light scattering (DLS), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The additive's adhesion property was evaluated by incorporating it in the standard water-based ink formulation at 0–10 wt % to confirm the adhesion properties using the cross-cut adhesion test.