Marabu

UV-curable screen printing ink for the

manufacturing of ID-cards

Suitable for laminating and embossing,

satin ink film, very flexible, offset-over-

printable, silicone-free

Field of Application

Substrates

Ultra Card UVCC is suited for the following

substrates:

• PVC films (coated/uncoated)

• PLA (Polylactide, coated/uncoated)

• Rigid PVC

Since all the print substrates mentioned may be

different in printability even within an individ-

ual type, preliminary trials are essential to de-

termine the suitability for the intended use.

Field of use

Ultra Card UVCC is suitable for printing on sin-

gle and multi-layered identity cards such as cus-

tomer loyalty cards, club cards, bank cards, tele-

phone cards, smart cards, or ID system cards.

UVCC excels through particularly good lami-

nating characteristics. Ultra Card UVCC can al-

so be used in combination with other printing

methods such as waterless or UV offset print-

ing.

Characteristics

All shades are brilliant and silicone-free. This

guarantees very good laminating results with

high peel resistance.

For silicone-free products it is important to use

only thoroughly cleaned stencils, squeegees,

ink pumps, tubes (in the case of an automatic

ink supply), and injectors for the manual ink

filling of the stencil, etc.

If cleaning is carried out with automatic screen

washing systems, we recommend prior to

printing an additional manual cleaning with a

fresh cleaner not having had any contact with

ink residues containing silicone.

Ink Adjustment

The ink should be stirred homogeneously be-

fore printing and if necessary during produc-

tion.

Drying

Ultra Card UVCC is a fast curing UV ink. A UV-

curing unit (medium-pressure mercury lamp)

of 150 to 200 W/cm is therefore necessary.

Please check the block resistance carefully

when printing on front and back. For a success-

ful lamination process, good offset overprinta-

biliy, and high peel resistance it is essential that

the ink film is sufficiently cured.

The curing speed of the ink is generally depend-

ant upon the kind of UV-curing unit (reflec-

tors), number, age, and power of the UV-

lamps, the printed ink film thickness, colour

shade, substrate in use, as well as the printing

speed.

As with all UV-curable printing inks, the pres-

ence of residual monomers and photoinitiators'

decomposition products cannot be completely

ruled out even after sufficient curing. If these

traces are relevant for the application, this must

be taken into account in individual cases, as

this depends on the actual printing and curing

conditions.

Fade resistance

Pigments of high fade resistance (blue wool

scale 6-8) are used for the UVCC range.

Stress resistance

After proper processing and thorough drying,

the printed ink film can be cut or punched.

UVCC shows good resistance against alcohol

and finger sweat, and will meet the resistances

required for credit cards after the lamination.

Technical Data Sheet

Ultra Card UVCC

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Marabu GmbH & Co. KG • Phone +49 7141 6910 • info@marabu-inks.com • www.marabu-inks.com

Vers. 1

2019

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Marabu

Range

High Opaque Shades

170 Opaque White

Press-Ready Metallics

195 Fine Silver

197 Medium Silver

Further Products

902 Bronze Binder

904 Special Binder

Colour Pastes

622 Light Yellow

634 Carmine Red

652 Blue

680 Black

The highly pigmented Ultra Card UVCC col-

our pastes (622 - 670) allow virtually unlimi-

ted mixing possibilities at increased colour

strength. They are intended for mixing purpo-

ses only (5-20%) and must not be used undilu-

ted.

Metallic Mixing System

Metallic colour shades on ID cards are a core

strength of screen printing. With the Marabu

Metallic Mixing System including 2 silver

shades with different pigment sizes and 4 col-

our pastes, almost any metallic hue can be

mixed.

UVCC 195 (fine silver): mesh 90-48 to 100-40

UVCC 197 (medium silver): mesh 77-55 to

90-48

All shades are intermixable. Mixing with other

ink types or auxiliaries must be avoided in or-

der to maintain the special characteristics of

this ink.

Auxiliaries

UVV 1 Thinner 5%

UVV 5 Thinner, flexible 5%

UVV 3 Thinner, reactive 0-3%

UR 3 Cleaner (flp. 42°C)

UR 4 Cleaner (flp. 52°C)

UR 5 Cleaner (flp. 72°C)

The addition of thinner reduces the ink viscosi-

ty if necessary. An excessive addition of thinner

will cause a reduction of the curing speed, as

well as of the printed ink film’s surface hard-

ness. The thinner becomes part of the cross-

linked matrix when UV-cured and may slightly

change the inherent odour of the printed and

cured ink film.

The cleaners UR 3 and UR 4 are recommended

for manual cleaning of the working equipment.

Cleaner UR 5 is recommended for manual or

automatic cleaning of the working equipment.

Printing Parameters

All types of commercially available fabrics and

solvent-resistant stencils can be used. The fab-

ric recommendation is 90-48 to 120-34, for

metallics please refer to the chapter Metallic

Mixing System.

Laminating parameters

The following laminating parameters have pro-

ven to work for PVC on the market.

Laminating temperature: 140°C to 150°C

Pressure: 1 ton for sheet sizes of 35x50cm

Laminating time: approx. 15 min

Shelf Life

Shelf life depends very much on the formula/

reactivity of the ink system as well as the stor-

age temperature. It is 1 year for an unopened

ink container if stored in a dark room at a tem-

perature of 15-25°C. The ambient temperature

may fall below this value only once for max.

2-3 days. Under different conditions, particu-

larly other storage temperatures, the shelf life is

reduced. In such cases, the warranty given by

Marabu expires.

Note

Our technical advice whether spoken, written,

or through test trials corresponds to our cur-

rent knowledge to inform about our products

and their use. This is not meant as an assurance

for certain properties of the products nor their

Technical Data Sheet

Ultra Card UVCC

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Marabu GmbH & Co. KG • Phone +49 7141 6910 • info@marabu-inks.com • www.marabu-inks.com

Vers. 1

2019

11. Jan

Marabu

suitability for each application.

You are, therefore, obliged to conduct your

own tests with our supplied products to con-

firm their suitability for the desired process or

purpose. The foregoing information is based on

our experience and should not be used for spec-

ification purposes. All characteristics described

in this Technical Data Sheet refer exclusively to

the standard products listed under "Range",

provided that they are processed in accordance

with their intended use and only when used

with the recommended auxiliaries. The selec-

tion and testing of the ink for specific applica-

tions is exclusively your responsibility. Should,

however, any liability claims arise, they shall be

limited to the value of the goods delivered by

us and utilised by you with respect to any and

all damages not caused intentionally or by gross

negligence.

Labelling

For Ultra Card UVCC and its auxiliaries, there

are current Material Safety Data Sheets availa-

ble according to EC regulation 1907/2006, in-

forming in detail about all relevant safety data

including labelling according to EC regulation

1272/2008 (CLP regulation). Such health and

safety data may also be derived from the respec-

tive label.

Safety rules for UV printing inks

UV-inks contain some substances which may

irritate the skin. Therefore, we recommend to

take utmost care when working with UV-cura-

ble printing inks. Parts of the skin soiled with

ink are to be cleaned immediately with water

and soap. Please read the notes on labels and

safety data sheets.

Technical Data Sheet

Ultra Card UVCC

Page 3/3

Marabu GmbH & Co. KG • Phone +49 7141 6910 • [email protected] • www.marabu-inks.com

Vers. 1

2019

11. Jan

Marabu