Wacker presents innovative binders for the packaging and printing ink industries

At the European Coatings Show (ECS) in Nuremberg from March 19 to 21, 2013, the Munich-based Wacker Group will be presenting its latest product innovations for packaging and printing ink applications: The novel surface coating resin Vinnacoat LL 8100 allows effective sealing of aluminium foils to non-polar plastics.That makes it particularly suitable for heat-sealable packaging systems, for instance for yogurt lids or juice cups. The new Vinnol H 5/50 A complies with numerous food-contact regulations and is thus ideally suited for printing inks in sterilisable food packaging.
Vinnacoat LL 8100 is a new surface coating resin based on a styrene-olefin copolymer with carboxyl functional groups, which is particularly suitable as a binder for heat-sealable food packaging. The styrene-olefin resin base not only confers high toughness and permanent flexibility on the product, but also heat-sealability to non-polar polymers such as polystyrene, polypropylene and polyethylene.
The carboxyl functional groups, on the other hand, ensure outstanding adhesion to metal surfaces such as aluminum.
Until now, acrylate-based binders were predominantly used for heat-sealing coated aluminium foils to non-polar polymers. The new Vinnacoat LL 8100 offers an alternative here and complements Wacker’s broad product portfolio for heat-sealing applications.
The thermoplastic binder shows very low swelling in the presence of water and high resistance to a wide variety of liquids, from oils and greases, through dilute acids and alkalis, to alcohol and aqueous salt solutions. Thanks to the polymer’s inherent elastic properties, noadditional plasticizers are generally required in the formulation.
Vinnacoat LL 8100 is therefore an ideal binder for heat-sealable packaging systems, for example for sealed juice and water cups or dairy products such as yogurt or cream.

Demanding printing solutions for food packaging
The new Vinnol H 5/50 A has been developed for demanding packaging and industrial coatings, specifically for printing inks in food packaging. The binder is a vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate-vinyl alcohol-terpolymer containing functional hydroxyl groups. Due to its functional groups, the surface coating resin adheres strongly to a wide range of polymer substrates and may be crosslinked using a variety of reagents. Its high content of vinyl chloride polymer units provides excellent chemical resistance to the surface coating, while the vinyl acetate units impart high flexibility. Further useful properties of Vinnol H 5/50 A include high pigment compatibility, rapid resin and pigment dispersion, excellent compatibility with co-binders, as well as
high solubility in ketones or in cost-saving ester-based systems.
Coatings based on Vinnol H 5/50 A are waterproof and extremely resistant to oil, grease, dilute acids, alkalis and salt solutions.
Moreover, the novel surface coating resin is both taste- and odour-free.Vinnol H 5/50 A complies with numerous statutory food-contact regulations, such as those of the American Food & Drug Administration (FDA 21 CFR 175.300) or the Commission Regulation of the European Union No. 10/2011. Thus, it makes a perfect binder for printing inks for high-quality, sterilisable food packaging.