Factors Affecting the Quality of Sublimation Transfer
August 10,2022
Ink
Sublimation transfer ink is the key material of sublimation transfer printing technology. It is mainly composed of disperse dyes, binders, solvents and a small number of additives. The dyes are required to have good sublimation transferability and permeability, and reach a certain fastness index. The molecular weight is 230-380, and the sublimation temperature is 180-240 °C. Commonly used transfer printing dyes include anthraquinone dyes, azo dyes and cationic dyes, etc.
The binder is required to have a small affinity with the dye, easily release the dye gas, and have suitable printing adaptability, preservation and thermal transfer adaptability, etc. The commonly used binders are low-viscosity ethyl cellulose, ethyl hydroxyethyl cellulose ( EHEC), long oil modified alkyd resin, etc.
Commonly used solvents are turpentine, terpineol, high-boiling alkanols, aromatic alkanes, cellosolves and the like. The biggest feature of sublimation transfer printing is that the dyes can diffuse into the fabric fibers and are well fixed with the fabric fibers. Therefore, the sublimation inks with good quality are vivid in color, strong in stability and good in transfer effect.
At present, sublimation inks are divided into water-based and solvent-based inks. Most sublimation inks are water-based. Water-based sublimation inks can be used in various small-format desktop printers and large-format printers, while solvent-based sublimation inks are mainly used. On wide-format inkjet printers, solve the speed and width issues of inkjet printing. The quality of the sublimation ink directly affects the quality of the product. Therefore, it is very important to choose high-quality sublimation ink.
Temperature time
The sublimation transfer printing process requires the temperature to be controlled within the range of 180-230 °C, and the transfer time is about 10-30s. At the same time, attention should be paid to the reasonable allocation of temperature and time.
Pressure
Pressure is also one of the important parameters of the sublimation transfer process. Take fabric sublimation transfer printing as an example. If the pressure is too small, the gap between the fabric and the transfer paper will be large, the yarn will be round, and the ink gas molecules will collide with the air a lot. And escape, resulting in poor Ep~, J effect, and the ink is also easy to seep, the lines become thicker and the patterns and patterns are blurred, and the visual effect becomes poor;
If the pressure is appropriate, the yarn is flat, the gap between the fabric and the transfer paper is suitable, the transfer coloring effect is good, the pattern is clear, and the lines are smooth and fine;
If the pressure is too large, it is easy to produce deformation, fluffing and morphological changes in heavy fabrics, resulting in rough hand feel and coloring surface defects. Therefore, controlling the transfer pressure is very important to the clear visual effect of printed patterns and beautiful fabrics.
At present, the pressure adjustment of thermal transfer machines produced by most manufacturers is very convenient. In the actual production process, the operator should record the process parameters in detail, find the best transfer pressure for various products, and effectively carry out subsequent production and processing. guide.
Others
In addition to ink, temperature, time and pressure that will affect the quality of sublimation transfer printing, there are some precautions worthy of our attention in the actual production process.
The first is the selection of transfer paper. Suppliers with stable quality and high credibility should be the first choice for printing enterprises;
Secondly, it should be recognized that the color of dye ink before transfer (the pattern on the transfer paper before heat and pressure) and after transfer (the pattern on the transfer fabric) is very different, and the dye ink generally looks better before transfer. Dark and dull, relying on high temperature of about 200 ℃ to restore color, it is necessary to proof before printing production;
Finally, when thermal transfer, make sure that the hot pressing surface, the transfer paper and the surface of the substrate are in close contact with each other, and there is no gap, otherwise the transfer image and text may be blurred.
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