The Current Development Status of Digital Inkjet Printing Inks

Digital inkjet printing technology, characterized by its short process flow, flexible pattern design, and good process reproducibility, has basically matured after rapid development in recent years. It can now meet the needs of industrial-scale printing production in factories. Among them, printing ink is the primary consumable in digital inkjet printing processes.

Digital inkjet printing technology, characterized by its short process flow, flexible pattern design, and good process reproducibility, has basically matured after rapid development in recent years. It can now meet the needs of industrial-scale printing production in factories. Among them, printing ink is the primary consumable in digital inkjet printing processes. Therefore, the development of high-quality ink remains an important direction for the advancement of textile inkjet printing technology.

Digital printing inks for textiles are mainly classified into four types: disperse inks, reactive inks, acid inks and pigment inks. These are also one of the key factors affecting the quality of printed products. In recent years, significant progress has been made in the quality and technical level of domestic digital printing inks. Major breakthroughs have been achieved in ink stability, color saturation, compatibility with printheads and ink supply systems, adaptability to fabrics, as well as key technical indicators and production processes such as grinding, filtration, and dispersion. The variety of inks is comprehensive, and their performance continues to be optimized.

In China, the consumption of disperse inks for textile printing accounts for approximately 77.6% of the total ink consumption. Disperse inks are mainly used for printing on chemical fiber fabrics, divided into low-temperature heat transfer printing and direct printing. Reactive inks are primarily used for printing on cotton, wool, silk, linen, and regenerated cellulose fiber fabrics. The printing process for reactive inks is relatively mature, and the future direction of development is to further increase printing speed. Acid inks are mainly applied to printing on wool and nylon fabrics. With the rise of the fitness trend, the market size of yoga wear and swimwear has continued to increase, resulting in a corresponding increase in demand for nylon printed fabrics. Consequently, the market share of acid inks has been growing annually.

In the field of digital printing for garments, pigment inks are used extensively. Compared to reactive ink printing, pigment printing has broader adaptability to textile fabrics. It does not require sizing before printing or steaming or baking after printing, achieving truly clean, efficient, and short-process printing. Pigment printing has become the main direction for the development of textile inkjet printing technology.