D2T2 Imageable P'E'T' Card Material

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D2T2 Image-able P.E.T. Card Material
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D2T2 Card Overlay Market - Definition

• Focusing on plastic cards imaged by D2T2 (full
  colour picture personalisation security)
• Overlay is defined as the top layer of a
  laminated structure, onto which variable data is
  usually printed
• Protective patches are not considered
• Inner laminated layers are not considered

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D2T2 Card Overlay Market - Size

• There is unfortunately no independent survey to
  monitor this market
• Best estimate is that this category represents
  about 10 of the global card market, i.e. 1
  billion cards, and this quantity equals the
  overlay market
• Therefore the overlay market is equivalent to
  approximately 10 million square meters (with
  cards printed on both sides)

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D2T2 Card Overlay Market - Current Situation

• The general status of this market is well known
• Largely dominated by PVC
• ABS, mostly used for phone cards, is therefore
  not present in this market
• Polycarbonate does not image well with D2T2 and
  is usually restricted to laser engraved cards
• PET-G has a very limited market share, since the
  benefits are not obvious
• Biaxial PET has a limited market share, and is
  usually only used as an inner layer of the card

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D2T2 Card Overlay Market - Current Situation

• The general status of this market is well known
• Largely dominated by PVC
• ABS, mostly used for phone cards, is therefore
  not present in this market
• Polycarbonate does not image well with D2T2 and
  is usually reserved to laser engraved cards
• PET-G has a very limited market share, since the
  benefits are not obvious
• Biaxial PET has a limited market share, and is
  usually only used as an inner layer of the card
  Why is this ?

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D2T2 Card Overlay Market - Trends

• D2T2 market is growing rapidly
• Most dynamic applications are
• government ID cards and healthcare cards
• transport contactless cards
• high value novelty cards (personalised gift
  cards, alternative financial cards ...)
• Requirements for the overlay material
• long life cards gt durability
• tough usage gt durability
• public sector applications gt environment
  friendly
• graphic quality

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Potential Benefits of Biaxial PET

• Durability PET is more durable than PVC and can
  be used in demanding environments for long life
  cards
• Environment friendly PET is free of chlorine
• Brighter images if using an opaque substrate
  rather than a transparent one, the brighter
  whiteness of PET leads to vivid looking images,
  as more light is reflected by the substrate, not
  only on the clear areas of the card but also
  through the colour dyes themselves

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A Major Issue for PET Printing at the
Personalisation Stage

• Un-coated PET films have proven difficult to
  print with D2T2 printers
• PET is a semi-crystalline polymer with high
  mechanical strength and good barrier properties
• For these reasons, it does not absorb dyes as
  well as amorphous polymers like PVC

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A Major Issue for PET Printing at the
Personalisation Stage

• Solid organic compounds tend to be crystalline,
  e.g. molecules pack themselves in regular 3D
  arrays
• Polymers are different, they are either amorphous
  or semicrystalline

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A Major Issue for PET Printing at the
Personalisation Stage
Structure of amorphous polymers like PVC
Structure of semi-crystalline polymers like PET
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A Major Issue for PET Printing at the
Personalisation Stage

• Amorphous polymers soften when they reach Tg,
  their glass transition temperature
• Semi-crystalline polymers melt at higher
  temperature (called Tm)
• Tg is almost always reached by the action of the
  thermal print head
• Tm is rarely reached by the action of the TPH, as
  a result the dyes merely sit on the surface

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The solution D2T2 Coated PET

• The principle is to apply a polymeric coating
  similar to the ones used for D2T2 photo
  substrates
• Adapt this coating to card D2T2 dyes and PET film
  
• it softens as the TPH heats up
• the dyes become soluble in it

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The solution D2T2 Coated PET

• Some PET are primed, i.e. coated with a thin
  polymeric layer, usually to promote adhesion
• This prime may help fix some of the dyes on the
  substrate
• However this action is always limited, as this
  layer is not optimised for D2T2 dyes

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The solution D2T2 Coated PET

• Permeability Diffusivity x Solubility
• Diffusivity is related to the size of the dye and
  the free volume in the receiver polymer
• Solubility, measured by the partition
  coefficient, is the ration affinity of the dye
  with the receiver over its affinity with the
  delivery layer

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The Solution D2T2 Coated PET

• Optimised solubility for D2T2 dyes
• Optimal diffusivity for D2T2 dyes
• Long term stability if the dyes continue
  diffusing, they finally form cristalite
  structures, and loose their light reflecting
  properties, i.e. their colour

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The solution D2T2 Coated PET

• Compared with PVC and primed PET, the outcome is
  
• Optimised optical densities
• Outstanding colour gamut
• Increased sharpness, as the location of the dyes
  is tightly controlled
• Enhanced durability

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Bench Mark Test versus PVC

• All tests are conducted using premium PVC cards
  and D2T2 coated PET
• Using ICI YMCKO media
• Printing with a standard D2T2 desk-top printer

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Optical Densities
Less than 1 difference in average, which is not
noticeable by the naked eye.
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Colour Gamut
L a b printed, YMCRGBK at OD max
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Durability of the Image
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Conclusion

• D2T2 Overlay Market is growing rapidly
• Durability and environment-friendly are the main
  requirements of the fast growing applications
• D2T2 coated PET can be the answer to the new
  demand

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• Thank You