Pollution prevention through the development of printing inks, which are non-polluting and safe, is emphasized in our education and research. Seminars and short courses are planned for the industrial and government community in the areas of ink technology and pollution prevention. This facility includes a high shear mixer and two bead mills. Up to 15 gallons of ink at a time can be manufactured. Four color sets of inks can be manufactured and tested on presses to evaluate performance on press and print quality.
Equipment is available to measure the rheological and surface energy properties of printing inks.
A stress rheometer and a high shear viscometer are available to measure and study ink rheology. A dynamic surface tensiometer and a dynamic contact angle goniometer are available to study the surface energies of inks and their wetting properties on selected substrates. Larger presses are available for printing multicolor. Printing on paper, paperboard, plastic films, metal foils, and laminates can be done on these presses. Hence, inks can be studied from formulation through manufacture and their measured physical and chemical properties related to their performance on press and the print quality with which they print.