Sun Chemical Launches Xennia Pearl Pigment Inks for Sustainable Textile Printing

Sun Chemical has launched Xennia Pearl pigment inks for high-speed industrial applications during Innovate 2021 Textile Innovation Week.

The range, which includes inks for both mid-viscosity and high-viscosity printheads, has been developed following an assessment of the market and specific customer needs, particularly the requirement for high fastness, multi-substrate compatibility, consistent color and outstanding print performance.

As well as addressing core market needs in terms of performance, the range also underlines Sun Chemical’s commitment to sustainability in the textiles industry – offering textile printers a way to significantly reduce water use and chemical waste.

Based on proprietary pigments and resins, the inks will support the key application areas of fashion and home textiles – two sectors which are rapidly embracing digital pigment printing, both for the flexibility it offers, and for the huge sustainability benefits it brings.

Additionally, Xennia Pearl inks offer the benefit of increased fastness performance on polyester and cotton-polyester blends, opening up digital pigment printing to high demand applications typically using the higher water and energy consuming direct disperse technology.

The new offering is part of Sun Chemical’s wider range of water-based inkjet inks for textiles, which includes reactive, sublimation, pigment and acid dye inks, under the Xennia and ElvaJet brands. These inks were acquired from Sensient Imaging in 2020.

“The textile printing industry is moving towards pigmented solutions for simpler workflow, reduced waste and less reliance on water, so this ink is ideally suited to support that shift,” said Pete Saunders, global director-digital business, Sun Chemical. “The Xennia brand is already an established and respected name in the market, but now with the inkjet expertise and R&D capability of Sun Chemical behind it, the benefits to customers are set to grow even further.”