{"id":1221,"date":"2023-09-08T19:36:38","date_gmt":"2023-09-08T19:36:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.enerconind.com\/plasma-treating\/?post_type=resources&p=1221"},"modified":"2025-11-11T15:22:28","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T15:22:28","slug":"inkjet-printing-on-hdpe-and-pet-improves-with-plasma-surface-treating","status":"publish","type":"resources","link":"https:\/\/www.enerconind.com\/plasma-treating\/library-resource\/inkjet-printing-on-hdpe-and-pet-improves-with-plasma-surface-treating\/","title":{"rendered":"Inkjet Printing on HDPE and PET Improves with Plasma Surface Treating"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Best Formulations<\/a> (City of Industry, CA) is a major contract packager with responsibility for thousands of branded nutritional supplements, probiotics, pharmaceuticals, food and teas.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Best Formulations prints lot code information on the bottom of each HPDE and PET container. Printing was mostly successful with containers that had been pre-treated with flame by the container distributor. However, many of the containers were not pre-treated and this caused significant production headaches. They would also experience inconsistent printing results with containers that had been pre-treated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They consulted with the inkjet experts at Domino to test different ink viscosities and formulations and worked with their container suppliers to try and solve the adhesion issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Production Manager Dwayne Chrest says, \u201cBy chance, I was talking to Enercon\u2019s local representative Todd Kasik (Packaging Sales Equipment Corp) about a cap sealing project<\/a> when I mentioned a problem we were having with inkjet adhesion on some of our containers. He asked me if we had considered atmospheric plasma surface treatment. We weren\u2019t familiar with the technology, but were willing to try.\u201d The idea of a completely new approach to the problem with in-line surface treating was refreshing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plasma improves ink adhesion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Enercon treated bottles in their laboratory with a blown-ion atmospheric plasma treater and saw very positive results in the technology\u2019s ability to raise the surface energy of the plastic container, which is a key ingredient for successful adhesion. Best Formulations decided to consign a unit to put it to the test in their operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chrest says, \u201cWe were really excited about the technology. We went online to Enercon\u2019s website and learned about dyne levels, surface energy and adhesion. The science all checked out and when we used the system in our facility we were amazed with the results.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The blown-ion system<\/a> cleans, etches and functionalizes surfaces to improve adhesion. It generates a concentrated high speed discharge of ions that bombards the container\u2019s surface. Positive ion bombardment facilitates a micro-etching or scrubbing effect which can remove organic and inorganic contaminants from the surface of an object.<\/p>\n\n\n\n