Effect of cellulose nanocrystal incorporated acrylic copolymer resin on printing properties of waterborne inks

In this study, cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) incorporated acrylic-co-polymer resin (Ac-co-res/CNC) were synthesized to improve water-borne ink printing properties. The CNCs were incorporated into the acrylic-co-polymers (Ac-co-res) to enhance the physico-chemical properties of Ac-co-res. The Ac-co-res was synthesized by free radical polymerization using different acrylic monomers. The three types of water-borne inks (cyan, magenta, and yellow) were prepared using Ac-co-res and Ac-co-res/CNC and subsequently printed on corona-treated PET films. The inks having Ac-co-res/CNC showed significant enhancement in drying rate, adhesion and gloss. After adding CNCs, the drying time decreased from 9 s to 7 s, adhesion increased by 2%, the gloss was increased from 20 to 48%, compared to inks prepared with Ac-co-resin. Thus, the overall results revealed that the Ac-co-res/CNC showed excellent potential in developing water-borne inks in the flexible printing application. •Improvement of printing properties by addition of CNC.•Synthesis of water-based inks, characterization and properties discussion.