Oligomer-in-water emulsion based waterborne UV-curable paints for cotton printing

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to prepare waterborne UV-curable pigment pastes for cotton fabric printing. Design/methodology/approach – O/W (oligomer-in-water) emulsions of polyurethane acrylate (PUA) oligomer in sodium dodecyl benzene sulphonate (SDBS) aqueous solution were prepared by ultrasonic emulsification method. Findings – The present work studies various factors affecting the stability and droplet size of the O/W emulsion stabilised by SDBS. The optimal emulsifier concentration was 2.5 per cent, under which condition the stability of the emulsion increased as the emulsifier content increased, with a subsequent decrease in the droplet size of the emulsion, while above which emulsion agglomeration occurred. Increasing the power and duration of ultrasonic dispersion resulted in increased emulsion stability and decreased droplet size, while increases in the oligomer content reduced the emulsion stability. Darocure 1173 mixed with PUA and then emulsified in the SDBS aqueous solution guaranteed uniform dispersion of the photoinitiator, resulting in faster curing speed. Originality/value – This paper presents a new method for making waterborne externally emulsified oligomers for UV curing, and finds that it is easy to convert the existing oligomers into waterborne equivalents by this method. Cotton fabrics printed with the oligomer emulsion based pastes were found to have good colour strength and crockfastness.