This must be a great time to be an ink chemist. Whether it be for production inkjet, packaging, wide format, or industrial printing, inks are evolving at a rapid pace to enable the fast-growing range of print applications. As I covered in detail in a previous article, the idea that there will be one single ink that can print on every surface or object is pretty much the chemical equivalent of a perpetual motion machine, and while the idea of a universal ink doesn’t necessarily violate basic laws of physics or chemistry, it certainly comes close enough to get a citation from the Chemical Cops. Still, new inks are emerging all the time that boast improved adhesion properties, while at the same time improving other ink qualities as well, such as durability, color gamut, and drying time.

This article will offer a look at some of the recent developments specific to wide-format inks—and even more specific to solvent/eco-solvent and UV inks. Part 2 of this series will look at latex, dye-sublimation, and gel-based inks.

It was only a few years ago that there were rumblings that the demise of solvent inks was imminent, especially as newer, ostensibly more environmentally and operator friendly alternatives appeared. That has hardly come to pass, and solvent inks are just as popular as they ever were, largely thanks to the emergence of so-called “eco-solvent” inks.