A glimpse of polymer additives for printing and packaging solutions

The use of plastic products is growing all across the globe. The versatility of raw polymer enables plastic processors to give diverse shapes, sizes, features, and properties to plastics according to the demand of customers. The addition of colour and properties influence the usage of plastics in the industrial as well as consumer applications. That has made the plastic processing industry one of the fastest-growing sectors in the world.

How do polymer additives help in plastic processing?

Raw polymers are monomers containing no shape, colour, and even properties that exist in the plastic products. To impart these features and properties in plastics, natural polymers are processed with select chemicals in the manufacturing plants called masterbatches.

Masterbatches are solid or liquid materials used to impart colour to the base polymer during plastic manufacturing. But, there is a broad classification of masterbatches based on their specific applications and performance during the production.

Categories of masterbatches in the plastic industry

Colour masterbatch

The primary purpose of colour masterbatch is to add to colour to the base polymer during plastic manufacturing. The solid or liquid masterbatch provides colour intensity to a plastic product based on the chosen loading for manufacturing. Higher the loading of the masterbatch brighter, the colour would be in the plastics. There are thousands of colours to use in plastic production.

Additives

As stated above, raw polymers do not possess properties and features demanded by the customers. The addition of unique properties such as stiffness, durability, anti-oxidant, flexibility, smoothness, and other elements come processing with compatible additives. The TPU masterbatch is a good example of an additive used to manufacture automotive parts, seat belts, cables, footwear, and other products.

Special effect masterbatch

As the name suggests, the special effect masterbatch imparts a unique chromatic impact on plastic products. The masterbatch is used with the base polymer to give the desired colour effects on light.

Uses of plastics in modern lifestyle

There is almost no industry where plastic use not taking place in modern days. Heavy use of plastics in the carpets, synthetic, construction, pipes, aeronautics, packaging, and printing takes place around the world. In every sector, there are specific additives designed to meet the demands and expectations of customers with predefined features for plastics.

Top additives for the packaging and printing industry

The demand for attractive plastic package and printing has increased dramatically around the world. The packaging of a product acts as a shield to protect foods and consumer products from damage and other contamination. The package should be durable and stiff with the excellent tensile strength to increase the shelf life of products. The BOPP masterbatch is a popular choice in the packaging industry used by many plastic processors. The properties of BOPP film get strengthened when this additive is added to the base polymer for manufacturing.

With the use of BOPET masterbatch, the output in the printing of packaging film increase due to higher slippage in the manufacturing. The additive acts as a slippage agent to enhance the production of quality products.

The prevalent problem in the printing of package product is heating due to higher friction between the layer. As a result, printing efficiency and quality of products get reduced during manufacturing. The silicone masterbatch can, however, lower the coefficient of friction and enhance product quality as a slippage agent. Thus, companies can save costs and generate more products for consumers.

Conclusion

Uses of masterbatches in plastic manufacturing have grown fast over the years. The chemical engineers are producing quality additives to improve plastic quality and meet the demand of customers in the market. So, plastic processors must exercise caution in buying polymer additives for their manufacturing processes.

About the author: The author is a content writer at Splashsys, a leading digital marketing agency in Delhi. In this article, he has written about the growing importance of additives in plastic manufacturing to meet consumer demands.