BASIC INFORMATION
Importance of lacquers in packaging industry
- Lacquers are thin, continuous depositions on foils which form a film. This film has a specific importance depending on the manner of its use. Lacquers are applied onto both aluminium and plastic foils.
- Solvent-type lacquers are used predominantly, which is far from optimal considering their effect on the environment. However, the complexity of their chemical composition, in the hot-seal lacquers in particular, is hard to achieve in a water-based system. The water systems are applied as well.
- According to the way they are used, the lacquers are classified as priming lacquers(primers), protective and barrier lacquers and hot-seal lacquers.
- Lacquers applied onto food packaging have to comply with the conditions specified by the international hygienic standards applicable for contact with foodstuffs and dishes.
Types of lacquers and their application
- PRIMING LACQUERS (primers)
They are lacquers designed to fix graphic print on the foil surface, for it is difficult to apply print straight on. These lacquers are mostly based on the cellulose nitrate. The lacquer quantities deposited range from 0,8 g/m2 to 1,5 g/m2. Types based on the cellulose nitrate are the ones used most frequently, and they predominantly form the outer side of the packaging.
- BARRIER LACQUERS (protective lacquers)
These lacquers are designed to form a resistent film between the foil and the packaged product that they are in direct contact with.
Al is quite unstable both in the acidic and the alkaline environments. It may get corroded or even dissolved due to substances included in the product, which may result in depreciation of the package and contamination of the product packaged with aluminium. Therefore, it is not possible for Al – in terms of both technological and hygienic concerns – to be in direct contact with the packaged product.
The lacquers on the inner side of a processed cheese packaging can serve as an application example. The barrier lacquers may also be applied as priming lacquers onto which mainly hot-seal lacquers are subsequently superimposed. An absolutely flawless film is created thereby (so called “brickwork effect“ – see below), resistent to such aggresive products as is mayonnaise or mustard for instance. Depositions of these lacquers usually range from 2 g/m2 to 4g /m2.
The barrier lacquers can be based, for example, on vinyl chloride and vinyl acetate copolymers.
Hot-seal lacquers are the most important group, both in terms of their applications and the volume used. As follows from their name, they are substances that make it possible to use hot-sealing technology, that is sealing plastic cups with either aluminium or plastic lids.
These substances are comparatively complex chemical systems which are supposed to meet a whole range of requirements. They have to have a capacity to create tight sealing joints with different types of plastics, while the joint strength must be neither too high not too low, and the lacquer must have the property to dry up (regarding thicker depositions) during a single passage through the machine, its sealing temperature has to be set just right, etc. This is why they generally get top attention of experts.
Hot-seal lacquers can be divided into several categories according to which type of plastic they can form quality seals with. The capacity to create tight seals with PP, PS, PVC, PE, PVDC and PET is required, with the capacity to create seals with paper and glass being marginal.
Hot-seal lacquers are engineered on the basis of a range of polymers, from acrylates and vinyl chlorides to complex systems of elastomeric copolymers combined with dispersions of polyolefins and other accessory substances.
These lacquers represent a cheap variant of a hot-sealable deposition, yet there is a cost to be paid – they can only be applied onto PS and PVC materials. They are used widely
They are lacquers that have a capacity to seal (type by type) the whole spectrum of materials, in particular PP, PS, PE and PVC.
- Lacquers for pharmaceutical industry
Al-foils used to seal blister packaging with pills in the pharmaceutical industry make use of special lacquers with enhanced adhesion. They can be used to seal PS and PVC.
- Lacquers for processed cheese packaging
These lacquers are specially modified for a low-temperature sealing. It is a foil-to-foil sealing action, with the lacquer being the only medium used.
Foil deposition
Foil deposition is effected on lacquering machines. As shown in the image, they are rather large devices, sometimes they can even be tens of meters long. There are many types. Usually, it is a two-sided, one-layer deposition effected during a single passage through the machine. To illustrate this process, we are bringing the following chart depicting a high-end-equipped machine with three depositioning sections, plus an optional laminating feature (more layers of foil or paper).
Modes of deposition
It is the single most frequented deposition method for an all-area lacquering of foils. The set-up usually consists of three cylinders. The quantity of lacquer being deposited is regulated through altering the pressure force and the difference in revolutions of the depositing and the wiping cylinders. The lacquer is then transferred onto the foil running between the supporting and the depositing cylinders.
It is a wide-spread techology namely in the sphere of graphic printing, yet, as compared with the semifexo printing, it is used less frequently to deposit lacques onto foils. There is a disadvantage about it: it is impossible in practice to achieve thicker deposition layers in a single step, with the limit value for a commonly used lacquer being around 4g. This is also why the method is utilized to deposit layers with a lower square weight – priming lacquer, for example. The system set-up consists of two cylinders. A gravure printing cylinder retains a certain quantity of lacquer within the raster, and the excess lacquer is wiped away with a blade. The foil passes in between the gravure printing cylinder and the support cylinder, while the raster-retained lacquer is transferred onto the foil.
Hygiene
Most lacquer-coated aluminium foils are designed to be used in the food-processing industry as packaging materials. They are largely in the form of lids to seal plastic cups with yoghurt, cream, salads, packagings for processed cheeses, butter, etc. In such cases as are the above, or similar, it is essential to care for the aspect of health, for the lacquer-coated foil gets into direct contact with foodstuffs.
The Czech Republic´s legislation governs these issues in Act No.258/2000 of the Code, by the Department of Health of the CR, on protection of public health, in the wording as revised in Act No.274/2003 and the by-law No.38/2001 of the Code, by the Department of Health of the CR, on hygienic requirements for products designed to get into direct contact with foodstuffs and dishes, in the wording of the by-law No.186/2003 of the Code. The aforementioned are fully harmonized with the EU legislation by the statute of the European Parliament and Council (ES) No.1935/2004 and the EU directive 2002/72/EU, as amended in 2004/19/EC applicable to them.
Quality requirements, demands, parameters and lab testing
Heavy demands are put on lacquers, for they are supposed to meet a wide range of parameters. It is the quality and properties of the hot-seal lacquers in particular that have been under a very close scrutiny. As they are being developed, they have to be optimized, as part of the whole system, for a good adhesion to surfaces, good rheological characteristics and a high solvent volatility, so that the lacquer can dry up well even in thick depositon layers and form a flawless quality film. A possibility to modify the lacquers respective to the differences specific to the individual machines is of the essence. Primers are supposed to provide binding with printing inks. Hot-sealable lacquers are required to create quality joints with a number of materials in parallel. At the same time, they have to resist the chemical effects of the packaged products. Their depositions must not form a block (stick together in rolls), not even at increased storage and transport temperatures. Moreover, all the lacquers are supposed to comply with the aforesaid hygienic conditions, which fact has to be taken in consideration when choosing the appropriate input raws.
The above parameters require lab testing.
The hygienic harmlessness of a product is verified at regular, legally-specified intervals by a state-accredited laboratory.
Adhesion, the quality of joints, and other parameters are monitored on a continuous basis through the check-out procedure by the lacquer maker and the check-in procedure by the customer.
Each production batch is inspected through the procedures controlled as part of the introduced system of quality assurance ISO 9001:2001.
