Defoamer in ink coating formulation

Hi Maimuki,

Foaming is caused by air entrapment in the ink contents creating air pocket and this could result in poor or incomplete printing. Defoamer basic function is reduce/degass or minimize this foaming effect during printing. Depending on ink manufacturer recommendation to add the amount of defoamer agent as too much will cause the ink to lose it adhesion property. Best to follow ink manufacturer recommendation for a good defoamer agent depending on what ink you are using.

Rgs,

Mike

Hi Mike

It is very helpful and useful for my study. Thank you for the information. I suppose you are in coating industry. If I have some doubts, will it be fine for me to discuss out with you?

Hi Maimuki,

I am not in coating industrial but has being in printing bussiness for last 15years! I may or may not have all the answer for you.

Best regards,

Mike

As above, defoamer removes air entrapment from the formulation. They are also useful from an aesthetic point of view, they reduce pin-holes on the surface of the dried coating, simply put the air bubbles come to the surface and pop.

BYK (www.byk.com) supply such defoaming agents. As there are several types available they should be able to give more direct advice (e.g. levels to use in the formulation) for your particular application.

Hi Guest

I've tried various defoamer from BYK and apparently it helps on less bubbling effect. I suppose other than this function, there isn't much that I can study or analyse on, rite? Well..is kind of bored after this.

Rgds

Maimuki

All the previous posts are useful. I just picked up my own copy of a BYK catalog as a matter of fact. AirProducts or DuPont make defoamers as well. Start with BYK and see what they or their distributors can provide.

Hi

Just one question, does defoamer affect in formulation in ink? From my understanding, defoamer function is used to remove or minimize the air bubbles content so that the coating will look very uniform, am I right to say? However when using different brands of defoamers, does it tell us that different defoamer will have different outcome?

Well, I'm using different brands of defoamers to see their characteristic ,but when I think back, I believe defoamer acts as same function and they should not differ much among different defoamers.

What do you think in this case? Need your advise.

rgds

maimuki