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CHEMICAL PROCESSES IN PRINTING TECHNOLOGY

Article · November 2013

DOI: 10.7251/GHTE13VI019G

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Miroslav Gojo Tomislav Cigula

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Glasnik hemidara,tehnologa i ekoloEa Republike srpske, (2013) 19-23, -vanredno izdanie-

EhIEMICAL PR.OCESSES IN PRII{TING TECHNOLOGY

Miroslav Goio* Tomislav Cigula
l
university of Zagreb, Faculty of Graphic Arts, Zagreb, Getaldiceva 2, Republic of Croatia

ISSN 1B4O.O54X UDC 543:66.017/.Afi

DOI: 1 0. 7251/GHTE13VI01 9G

One of the most commonly used printing technique today is lithography. The printing plate, which is composed of
printing (accept printing ink) and nonprinting (must not accept printing ink) areas is a highly impoftant factor for a//
printing processes. Selective ink adsorption on printing plates is usually achieved by geometricat difference between
printing and nonprinting areas, but in lithography it is achreved by their different physical-chemical properties. Printing
areas are oleophilic (hydrophobic) while nonprinting areas are hydrophilic (oleophobic). In the first step of the printing
procesE on the printing plate comes fountain solution (water and additives), which is adsorbed only by the nonprinting
areas. Printing ink is applied in the second step and it is adsorbed only by the nonprinting areas (not covered with
fountain solution). The printing plates are mainly buitt of aluminium strips that are mechanically, chemically and
electrochemically processed in order to make thin and porous film of aluminium oxide (nonprinting areas) and then
coated with photoactive layer (printing areas). The plate making process is by aluminium printing plates, composed of
exposure and developing which remove photoactive layer from nonprinting areas. The aim of this paper is to present
the plate making processes and plate parameters' measuring methods, for example contact angle measurement,
determination of the roughness parameters and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (E19. In addition, as printing
plate-fountain solution interaction is influential for the printing quality, one should define fountain solutionb optimal
chemical composition, for which measurements of pH value, electrical conductivity and surface tension are needed.
l{eywords: Graphic technology, printing plate, physical-chemical processes/ offset printing

TISTR.ODE.'CTTCIru

Gffser printing is the main i"epresentative of lithography. it is characterised by two rnain features, first the difference
bet'seen nrinting and nonprinting ereas on the printing plate is achieved by their opposite physical-chemieai properiies"
The printinq areas a!'e oieophilie {hydrcphobic), while nonprinting areas are hydrophilic {aieophobici. Seccndiy, the
priniing ink is f;"*m the printing plate io the printing subsirate transferred by offset eyiinder ltrl. These facts make
*ffsei priniing a .rery eemplex process where all production parameters must be set in a narrow interyai !n oreei tc
make imprinis ,:f high qualiiy.
In ihe printing process the printing plate is first eovered with fountain solution (water with additives), which is
adsorbed oniy by hydrophilic surfaees - the nonprinting areas. The surface then eomes lr'ltc a eontaet with ihe inking
r*ilers. The printlng ink is adsorbed on surfaee which is not covered with fountain solution - the printinq arees.
The priirting ink and the founiain solution are transferred from the pninting plate to the offset cyiinder and frcm there
to the Brinting substrate whleh comes between offset and printing cylinder as presented in Figure 1 l1l. As printing
substrates ai"e usually papers and paperboards one shouid use fountain solution as little as possible, in order to avoid
deterioration of the substrate's meehanleai properties.

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Figure i. 2ffset prirs{ing unit

u (*nespcdentn! alitcr: ${ii'*siav Gej*, L}niversit'r *f Zagreh, Faeulty *f Graphie Arts, Zcgreb. Getaidieev* ?,
Rt: I l-r i; e of eroati a, e- ffi ; : I-rjijolg-@g{g, h r
i i i!
 MATEffiSALS
The printing piates are nrainly maeie of aiuminium ioils whieh have te be proeessed !n oi-der to enrieh thei^n with
needed sufiaee propcrties. The processing of the a{umlnium f,ails usually eensists ef severai steps: elearringldegreasinq.
reughen!ng, ancdie exidation, finishi;lg, eeating with photoaetiv* layer and in the end euiting isrrvanted aim*nsion"
Roughening of the ek:minium surfaee and forming of thin aiuminium exirje filnr are nceessery for a numbcr of reasons:
it eniarges ihe furietional properties of the surfaee and causes better fountaln solution adsorption, better adsorpilon of
ihe photosensitlve eoating, eauses better ink adhesion, during the reproduction process iL lncreases stabiliry of the
fountain solution and printing ink cn the nonprinting and printing surfaces, respectiveiy. It ensures better meehanical
propedies of the printing plates anci thus, ionger print runs with the plates
[2]. The functional properties of the
printing plate are highly influenced by the suriace structure and its chaiaiteristies, making' the topography
charaeterization very imporLant for many applications since the roughness of the sudaee is a signifieant engineeiing
faetor (Figure 2) [3]. Post anodie treatments differ between manufacturers, but generally serue to improve the
hydrophilic propefties of non-printing areas [4, 5]. Photoaetive eoating enables image*transfei on the printing plate by
changing lts solubiliiy when irradiated by defined electromagnetic irradiation.

Figure 2. Micrograph of the aluminium foil's sufface after roughening and anodic oxidation

Besides the printing plate, for a stable printing process one should also take into aeeount the interaction between
nonprinting areas and the fountain solution as complete coverage of the nonprinting areas with a thin film of the
fountain solution is essential in achieving high printing quality.
Besides its main role (covering completely nonprinting areas), fountain solution also has to irnprove cleaning the
printing plate of printing ink, ensure fast and complete spreading on the printing plate surface in a thin film, deciease
friction between printing plate and rubber blanket, emulsify in wanted portion-with printing ink. Therefore, fountain
solutlon must be precisely cornposed of water and additives which will enhance its pe#orman?es
[6].

PLATE MAKING PROCESS

After preparing aluminium foil to have needed surface characteristics in order to build nonprinting areas (thin and
porous aluminium oxide layer) and printing areas (photoactive coating) one should transfer the image
on the printing
piate and make it ready for printing. The plate making process usuilly consists of two major steps, exposure anl
developing" In exposure, the coated aluminlum foit is irradiated with defined light souree which irradiates wave lengths
compatible with the sensitivity of the photoactive coating, The goal of thJ exposure is to cause ceftain chemical
changes in the photoactive layer which will make it soluble (positive working photoactive layers) or insoluble (negative
working photoactive layers) in a defined solvent. Older plate rnaking systems used a positiue or negative filrn as a
mask which enabled only some parts of the photoactive coating to be irradiated. This plate making system is siill
present in toda;'! plate making systems, but not so often in the plate making process for lithogiaphy,
then for
1n
Glasnik hemidara,tehnologa i ekoioga Republike srpske, (2013) 19-23, -vanredno izdanje-

flexography. In lithography the exposure of the plates is mostly conducted in a platesetter which uses laser as a light
source. The wanted areas of the photoactive layer are directly irradiated with a laser beam. One could there
distinguish two groups of photoactive layers, heat-mode layers, which are sensitive to infra-red (IR) irradiation and
photo-mode layers, which are sensitive to the visible light irradiation.
Developing process is present in almost al! plate making processes. The role of developing is to remove soluble parts
of the photoactive layer after exposure. Majority of the photoactive layers use a highly alkaline solution as the
developer. This fact makes it very impoftant to conduct developing in strict conditions as after dissolving photoactive
layer, developer could impair surface of the aluminium oxide as it is soluble in base and acid solutions [7],

MEASURTNG METFIODS IN CONTROL OF THE PLATE MAKING PR,OEESS

As previously mentioned, the plate making process is very complex and one must optimize this process in order to get
the high quality result, which significantly influences the quality of the final product. The most used methods in
characterisation of the printing plate's surface propefties, which have direct influence on the printing process, are
measurement of the contact angle, calculation of the surface energy and its components, determination of the
roughness parameters, electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and optical and scanning electron microscopy.
Measurement of the contact angle is a method based on the fact than one could determine wetting characteristics of a
solid suface by examination of the liquid drop on a solid or liquid (if these two do not mix) surface. The contact angle
is defined as the angle between wvo tangents in a point where all three phases (vapour, solid and liquid) come in
contact, one is tangent on the liquid drop and the other is tangent on the solid suface (Figure 3) [B].

*lid&*r
Figure 3. eonbd angle determination

Contact angle is deseribed in Young equation:

yb e;Ag@: Tr, - T,r (i)

where yp is interfacia! energy liquid-vapour, vru is interfacial energy solid-vapour, y.1 is interfaciai energy solid-liquid
and O is the contact angie.
The contact angle of the printing plate could give inforrnation about the printing plate making process/ for example
duration of the exposure, duration and eomposure of the developer solution, influenee of the printing process on the
printing plate's suiface ete" [9, 10]"
Surface energy and iG eomponents ean be eaieulated by measuring contact angles of referent iiquids on tlre
investigated solicj surface. In the printing plate investigation one could use the Owens-Wendt-Rabel and Kaelble
(OWRK) analysis method. This method is developed from Young equation and the fact that surfaee tension ean be
divided on the polar and dispersive part [11, 12].

{1+cosf}*q, [; F,'- t-f:;

t-{ri
LL'- ,: I tU-

n
4 '-
!
iut -l-l
t (2)
where 4 is surface tension of the solid, q is the sufaee tension of the liquid, C elispersive pert of suriaee tensicn, d
polar phase of surface tension 1121,

As fountain s*lution {rvater" based} rnust harre goeel spreeding en ti:e nsni}rinting *reas, !t := ei higher lnterest io
=E€
bchavlour of the poie:" ecn:poneRt ef the sut'eee ene:"gy rvhen ehanEes in th* printing plaie n:aklng prceess c{eijrs

Eleeti"ieal imo*danee sneetrascepy is an eieetrochenrieal anelytieal n:ethod si;itabi* for- rrreasu:'eii:ent oi noncendurrlve
ie'ire:'s on a eonduetirre base, sueh as varnishes, eolour cn a rnetai sutf:ce, n:etal *xlrles ete. li4j. Elerrieal irnp+danee
i-q a resistance in an Af eleetrieai e!rer-;!t. The eleet;"ieai irnpeel*nee is ;u;* erf i"eai and in-ra=in;r':r
i3i,
=3d
7.':
 *E!:i-:=::!-L: r : i'.:ri'j i.i5 (! r- lillE-ai f, G KrlFia{,i-l l :'; } :JS i',1r i.

I = Z'- jZ" i3i

v,rhere Z* is the *iee'ri"ie;! !n:;;eden:e, Z' :s r*a! sfii1 of ihe imr=darr* Z" i: i;-nagina;'r,: p*t' ci :h* elae:rleal
;moeJanee oire -, - ,.'.-
ri =ieeti'ieal
1i...
Measuring electrical i;"npedanee while changing ihe frequ*nc'1r *f the vaitage soui'ce ene ceuld determine ehanges *n
the printlnq plate surface as tne fsrnled aluminium oxiele iayer and the aluminium base create a doui:ie layer uihieh
eouid be simulated by an eleeirieai eireuit ii6l. The parameters of the eireuit elements imply the ehange of the
aiuminium oxide surfaee Ii7 - i9],

E&ruTR&L GF TffiE F&UF€?&SF* S&LUTE&ru ChE&RACTERESTEES

The printing piate-fountain salution inreraeiion has a very imporLant role in the printing proeess. One must define
pi'*pefties of the fountain solution tc determine its optimal composition. On the othcn hand, fountain solution eould get
contaminated in a printing process/ end therefore must be eonstantly obserued and !f needed correetee! with aeldiiives
to keep its funetien in a wanted bouneiaries.
The parameters whieh are usi.ially n:easui-cd dr::"ing prlntlng process are pH value and eleetrieal eonduetlvity. pH vaiue
nrust be between 4.5 and 5.5 as this is interval in vuhich alurninium oxide is stable l7l, but also this value leads to the
better drying of the printinq ink. The eieetrical conductiviiy value is not defined as it depends on the various fountain
selution eompositions, but it is a paran:eier which gives siqnal if some pariicles of paper, varnish ete. l'iave mixed with
fountain solution and could eause problems in the wetting process.

EG$'tCLUSEOEq

Thls paper presents an overvlevu of sorne ehernieal processes and measuring methods whieh are us*ei in graphic
industry cenneeted with the printing plate p;'aeesslng. One could see that ihe piate making proeess is fuil ef ehemieei
proeesslng" Beceuse of thelr bad eeologieai in:pcet, investigations are made tc develop proeesses ulth lewei" use cf
ehen:icals, but for noiv they are noi keepinq up wiih the needed quaiily ievel oi' Curabrlity. Therefere, encther way tf
impr*ving these processes and lelvei'ing negaiive eeologieai impact is by defining niore preeiseiy enerEv ;nd ehe=rieai
ccnsur:rpticn bv eptinrlzed curreRt srceesses. Usage of precise rneasur!r:g methsis which enable gr*mter preeisien in
eheraeterizaticn of the rnatei'ials and deflnitien *f their prcpe!-ties !n i'elation to ihe ehemical preeessing i:iust be
inelL:ded in that process"

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Z. Brinkman, !-1.J., Kernig, B. {2003) Aluminium for iithographic applications li ATB Metallurgie R.&D Hydro
,Alurninium. 43(L-2), pp. i30-135
3. Dimogerontakis, Th., Van Gils, 5", Ottevaere, H., Thienpont hl., Terryn, H. (2006) Quantitatlve topography
characterlsation of surfaces with asymmetric rcughness induced by AC-graining on aluminium i/ Surface Coating
Technology. 201, pp. 918-926.
4. Lin, C.S., ehang C.C., Fu, H.M, (200i) AC electrograining of aluminurn plate in hydroehioric acid Materials ll
Chemistry and Physics 68 pp. 217-224.
5. Urano, T., Kohori, K., Okamoto, H. Photosensitive Lithographic Printing Plate and Method for making a Printing
Plate, Patent No.: US 6,689,537 82,2004.
6. Kipphan, H., (2001), Handbook of Print Media, Berlin: Springer.
7. Pourbaix, M., (1966), Atlas of Electrochemical Equilibria in Aqueous Solutions, Oxford, London, Paris, Toronto,
New Yor( Frankfurt: Pergamon Press"
8. Atkins, P. W., (1998), PhysialChemistry,6ft Ed., Oxford University Press
9. Baracic, M., Cigula, T., Tomasegovic, T., Zitinski Elias, P. Y., Gojo, M., (2009), Influence of piate making process
and deveioping solutions on the nonprintlng areas of offset printing plates, Proceedigs of the 20th DAAAAM
Symposium "Inteligent Manifacturing & Automation : Focus on Theory, Practice and Education", ed. Katalini6,
Branko, Viena : DAAMM International.
10. Mahovic Poljacek, S., Cigula, T., Pintar, N., Gojo, M., (2010), Quality of the Printing Plates as a Function of
Chemical Processing, Annals of DAAAM for 2010 & Proceedings of the 21st International DAAMM Symposium
"Inteligent Manifacturing & Automation: Focus on Interdisciplinary Solutions", ed. Katalinic, Branko, Viena :
DAMM International.
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Science, v.13., pp. 774L-1747
12. Van Oss, C. J.; Giese, R. F"; Li, Z.; Murphy, K.; Norris, J,; Chaudhury, M. K., Good, R. l. (1993) Contact Angle,
Wettability and Adhesion, K. L. Mittal (Ed.), VSP, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
13. eigula T. (2011), Kvalitativna analiza slobonih povrSina tiskovnih formi, PhD thesis, Grafidkifakultet, zagreb
 Glasni! hemidara,tehloroga i ekoroga Repubrike grpske, (z0E) 1!.?3, -vanredno izdanje-

14' Mansfeld,F',(1999),Analysisandlnterpretationof ElsDanaforMetalsandAlloys,Technical reportZ6,solartron

Limited.
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John Wiley&sons Ltd.
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Aufkldrung der llrsachen von Farbannahmeerscheinungen an
urturtiiiiiiii"a"r oiiiiri" iii'- or*ta*rrpaffen
zur
bitdireien Stellen, Report 2006.
17' cigula, T', Fuchs-Godec, R., Gojo, M., slemni( M. (i012) rlearocnemical
Impedance spectroscopy as a tooi in
the plate making process optimization l/
Acta chimici slovenica 59 3, pp. 513=519
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Measurernents on corroded porous
Aluminum Oxide Films, Corrosion Science, 24 (llll2),'pp. 9+S_SS).
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parameters in characterization of!.surface topographies,
Appiied Surface Science, 25s (7); pp. 4283-4288.

KEMIJSKI PROEESI [J GRAFIdKGJ TEi"INOLOGIJI

sveuiitiite u Zasrebu, ,ffi t*riffHrl?#i'lL'r!,1|2"va 2, Repubtika Hruatska

l.?ln' od nal2astuptjenriih
.tehnika otrskivania u suvremenom tisku je tehnika ploinog tr'ska. osnova za sve tehnike
tiska je tbkovna forma koia se sastoji od thkovnil
rprinvaa;u iiitoi i stobodnih povriina (ne sm4e prihuatiti bojito).
Na vedini tiskovnih formi.le selektivno prihvaGrye boilla p;silgnit; geometrr.Jskom
razlikom, no u ploinom tisku se
tiskoune i slobodne Povrine razlikuju po svojirn fizikaino kem6li,m
siaist irna, odnosno hidrofilnosti i o/eofilnosti kao
povriinskim pojavama. Tiskovne povriine moralu biti izrazito
oteofiki (hidrofobne), dok sloboane po;triine morqju
imati izrazito hidrofilna (oleofobna) svoJstva. tJ procesu tiska se prvo
nancsi atopina za vlaienje (voda s dodaicima) te
se prihvada saffio rla slobsdne powdine. u sljedeiem koraku
ie ianosi bajiro s uljnirn otapalima te se ono prihvada
samo na povriine kaie nisu pt'ekrivene otopinbm z3.vfaZenie..(tiskoini pwrine).
Atuntinijski tim od kajeg se najdei€e
izraduie ttsksvna forma, mora se povrilinski obraditi rnenaniikim,
kemgskim i elektrokemrlskim pcstupcirtia kako bi se
na niai dobila tanxa, Bo{Yn? prevlaka afurnlniievog cksida (stobodne povriine)
utoleT {tiskovne povriine}. Izrada takve tiskavneForme se urttoV oa'isusett;*rai1a
ii;i
uu ilr iri;u ostajava fotcaktivnim
povriina ukiania fotoaktivni slai ci$ rada i razvgansb, iime se sa slobodnih
ie prezentkati kemgskb precese izraae sfsetnih'tisiovni* fcrmi, p;.imjena te
razliiitift meioda kaiima se pratt'te i artimkilll_tq
li qrocesi: i;eren;a kuta kvaienja, parametara hrapavosti i
eiektrok*m$ske impedane$ske spektroskopge
{EI|). Nadaljs, *afu
otopine za vlaienie koia se ksristi i tiskot'ne forme, poiebns
E * prorru gska od izi,tzel'ne vainosti irtterak"ega
s*'raiditi njen optimalni kemgski sastav prateci pn

K#LrdNE RffEdg: Grafiika tet''rnofog$a, tiskovna forna, fizikalno-kemgski proeesi" ofs€tfii iisak

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