KRONOS, Covestro collaborate to advance sustainable digital fabric printing

Leading titanium dioxide pigment provider KRONOS and high-quality polymer manufacturer Covestro are collaborating to showcase how innovative materials can support the adoption of digital inkjet printing on fabrics. This collaboration aims to advance the sustainability transition in the textile industry. Testing and validation have successfully demonstrated that Covestro’s waterborne INSQIN® portfolio is compatible with KRONOS 9900 Digital White, a white pigment dispersion.

Covestro has also developed a new polyurethane dispersion, Impranil® DL 1606, specifically designed to address the challenge of sagging in direct-to-foil (DTF) printing. Sagging is a known quality issue due to the high ink loads required. This state-of-the-art binder offers excellent anti-sagging properties, allowing for high white ink loads and ensuring high-quality results in inkjet printing.

Dr. Torsten Pohl, Head of Global Textile Coatings at Covestro, emphasized that this collaboration addresses key challenges in the digital inkjet printing market, particularly in formulation and sagging. The partnership with KRONOS is a step towards a more sustainable textile industry.

Jürgen Bender, Global Market Development Manager at KRONOS, expressed gratitude for the collaboration, ensuring compatibility between KRONOS 9900 Digital White and Covestro’s INSQIN® polyurethane binders. This development clears a barrier to the adoption of more sustainable digital printing technologies in inkjet applications.