CHARACTERIZATION OF COATED PRINTS WITH FRAGRANCED MICROCAPSULES

Abstract

Microcapsules are used in various fields of application, such as in pharmacy, medicine, agriculture, chemical industry, construction industry, food industry, biotechnology, electronics. Fragranced and PCM (phase change materials) microcapsules also found their use in the printing and the textile industries, where they are applied in the combination with the appropriate ink or varnish on the desired substrate material. Microcapsules are applied either by coating or by different printing techniques, which main advantage is the ability to transfer the microcapsules onto desired areas of the substrate material without or with as little damage as possible, thus allowing the deposited microcapsules to fulfil their basic functionality. The aim of this research was to investigate the morphologic characteristics of the fragranced microcapsules and the coated prints using selected varnish and different fragranced microcapsules concentrations, as well as to determine how variable concentrations of the applied microcapsules in the varnish affect the optical characteristics of the coated prints. Performed SEM (scanning electron microscopy) and spectrodensitometric analyses of the coated prints revealed that both the coating process without microcapsules, as well as the different fragranced microcapsules’ concentration in the coated water-based varnish, significantly affected both the morphologic and the optical characteristics of the coated prints.