Phase-Change Inks

By Alexandra Pekarovicova, Hrishikesh Bhide, Paul D. Fleming III, Jan Pekarovic

Phase-change, or hot melt, inks are solid at ambient temperature and liquid at the moment of printing. Such inks contain no volatile solvent to be trapped in ink film or to produce Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC). The phase-change inks found application in non-impact printing technology by either thermal transfer or “solid ink” digital printing.

The environmental and health problems caused by inks containing volatile organic compounds, such as toluene, call for new solutions in the rotogravure printing industry. Because of their low VOC content, phase-change inks might be a reasonable solution for gravure printing.