For three decades, DuPont’s inkjet ink business has been best known for its leadership position in the small office/home office (SOHO) market, as well as its expansion into textiles in the early 2000s. The company has led the way in developing water-based pigmented inks for these segments.

Now, DuPont has set its sights on another major market: packaging inkjet inks. With the company’s long record of innovation ink digital printing inks, DuPont figures to move quickly into this growing segment.

Eric Beyeler, global marketing manager, digital printing, Electronics & Imaging for DuPont, discussed the history of DuPont’s digital printing efforts, and how this will pave the way forward to the packaging space.

“Thirty years ago, DuPont entered the home and office space, and participated in the first launch of pigmented inks for desktop,” Beyeler said. “After home and office, the next step was the textile market in the early 2000s. We partnered on the equipment side with the Artistri inkjet printing equipment, which is still being used today. In the mid 2000s, we exited the equipment business, and focused on the inks, which is where our core competency is. In the latter part of the 2000s, we entered commercial printing, which is printing on paper, which is ideal since all of our inks are water-based.”

Digital Textile Inks

Digital printing of textiles remains a very good business for DuPont, which offers both dye and pigmented inks.

“Digital printing of textiles continues to grow. It is only 5% of the total market, so there is plenty of room for it to grow,” Beyeler said. “Short runs, customization, fast fashion trends are all in line with digital printing.”

Beyeler noted reactive inks are an alternative that is extremely cost effective and delivers some great colors, but the use of pigmented inks in digital textile printing continues to grow, partly driven by environmental benefits, but there are improvements needed.

“One of the main arguments for pigmented inkjet inks is sustainability,” he said. “Water usage goes way down and there are no harsh chemicals being used. We are working on addressing the gaps the industry is asking to be filled in color and great durability, and are expecting to launch new products by the end of the year.”

“Our pigment offering has greatly evolved from roll-to-roll to direct to garment,” Beyeler reported. “We have always wanted to be printhead agnostic. If our customers like DuPont ink, they can the ability to use it on the vast majority of printers that are available today.”

Digital Packaging Inks

This brings us to packaging. Beyeler said that the packaging market is an ideal opportunity for digital printing.

“The next horizon for us is print on packaging, with two sub-groups, folding cartons and corrugated or print on film,” he noted. “We are already in the corrugated and folding carton markets. We are actively developing private label inks for printing inks for film.”

Printing on film has its own challenges, especially for water-based inks, as excess heat will deform the substrate.

“Water-based inks on films are challenging on a hydrophobic, heat sensitive media like film and it is not a simple one,” Beyeler said. “We are working on that.”

However, the food packaging segment offers its own hurdles, as regulatory mandates restrict what ingredients can be used. Beyeler said that DuPont is was ahead of these requirements.

“We are working on this with an eye on food packaging, which comes with food packaging contact regulations,” he observed. “Many of our inks are being generated with food packaging applications in mind. It is a nice little technical challenge for a water-based ink, but it is exactly what we think our DNA is about, and we are looking forward to bringing solutions to that market.”

Digital printing has come a long way in the past three decades, and Beyeler believes there is far more to come.

“Digital printing is way beyond the pioneer stage,” Beyeler said. “Productivity is an essential part of what needs to be delivered. We are now being asked to deliver solutions that not only look good but are productive.

“Ink is part of the system, which includes the printer, the printheads and the software,” he added. “What you are now are seeing is optimizing the interaction between all of these components. Collaborating with all of the different elements in the system is essential. We work very closely with printhead manufacturers and OEMs.”

Overall, it is an exciting for DuPont and the inkjet ink industry.

“This year we are celebrating 30 years in the market, and we are building on that path,” Alexa Raab, global business communications leader – advanced printing, Electronics & Imaging for DuPont, noted. “We continue to be focused on science and innovation. We have a long history in innovation and have a strong connection with our customers.”

“We are always innovating to deliver more color,” Beyeler concluded. “There is not a year that we haven’t launched multiple new inks. We continue to innovate and invent in the water-based inkjet world. It is a pretty exciting time for us; the commercial printing, packaging and textile markets are three growth areas, and there is no shortage of technical challenges for us.”