Study of PLA Printability with Flexography Ink: Comparison with Common Packaging Polymer

Today, the economic consumption of biodegradable polymers is of capital importance in many applications. One of the most commonly used biopolymers is polylactic acid (PLA). The printability of the biodegradable film has not been fully investigated. This work tested the printability of polylactic acid (PLA) films and compared the print qualities to common packaging films like low density polyethylene (LDPE), corona treated LDPE, polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Solvent -based flexo ink was applied to test the printability of the films. The surface tension of films and densitometry of printed samples were evaluated. Also the inks adhesion to the substrate as an essential parameters that influence the quality of printed samples were measured. It has been found that the PLA can be successfully printed with flexographic solvent inks and could achieve similar quality to common packaging films.