Synthesis of waterborne polyurethane ink binder with high T‐peel strength and its application in biaxially oriented polypropylene film printing

Abstract

AbstractIn order to improve adhesion properties of waterborne polyurethane (WPU) inks on biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) films, herein, a liquid polyester polyol BY3003 with long‐branched aliphatic chains was used to prepare WPU latexes suitable for BOPP films printing. The application of BY3003 made the surface tension of the prepared latexes not more than 43 mN/m, while that of traditional WPU latex exceeded 55 mN/m. Accordingly, the T‐peel strength of the inks made from these latexes was all above 0.8 N/15 mm. In addition, post chain extension degree, dimethylol butyric acid content, and NCO/OH molar ratio also had significantly effect on latex and film properties of WPU, especially on the T‐peel strength of the corresponding inks. By optimizing these factors, a WPU latex with surface tension as low as 39.6 mN/m and adhesion fastness over 95% on BOPP film were obtained, and the T‐peel strength of its corresponding ink was up to 2.05 N/15 mm, which is the highest value recorded in the literature as far as we know.