Patent ID: 8163465
Filing Date: 2012-04-24
Classification: B41C,B41N,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A method of making a flexographic printing plate comprising: A) providing a flexographic printing precursor having a laser-ablatable layer having a thickness of from about 300 to about 4000 μm and comprising a film-forming material, wherein the film-forming material is a laser-ablatable material or the film-forming material has dispersed therein a laser-ablatable material, the laser-ablatable material being a polymeric material that when heated to 300° C. at a rate of 10° C./minute, loses at least 60% of its mass to form at least one predominant low molecular weight product, and the laser-ablatable layer comprises at least 0.01 weight % of a depolymerization catalyst that is a zinc-containing organometallic based catalyst comprising a zinc center and two organic ligands, and B) imagewise directly ablating the laser-ablatable layer with a laser at an energy of at least 1 J/cm