Research into the screen printing process of discharge screen textile inks

The article examines the technology of discharge screen printing, which enables the decolorization of pre-dyed fabrics while allowing the formation of a new colored layer. The relevance of the study is determined by the growing demand for eco-friendly water-based inks and high-quality prints with a soft hand feel. An experimental study was conducted to investigate the effect of the concentration of the active agent and the storage time of the ink composition on the discharge efficiency of the dye, evaluated using the color difference parameter ΔE. For applying the discharge inks to the fabric, a screen printing form with a PET 1500 mesh (SEFAR AG) and a 43 lines/cm mesh count was used. The color deviation of the prints was measured using a Gretag Machbech Spectro Eye spectrophotometer. The relative discharge efficiency was used as a generalized indicator. It was shown that the optimal concentration of the active agent is 6 %, which provides the maximum discharge capacity. A logarithmic dependence of ΔE on the concentration of the active agent was observed, with high determination coefficients (R² > 0.9). The influence of the drying temperature and the catalyst concentration on the duration of the operation was also studied. It was found that increasing the catalyst concentration to 4 % reduces the drying time by 15,4 % without deteriorating the color characteristics. The results confirm the feasibility of using catalysts to intensify the drying process and optimize energy consumption in discharge screen printing.

Keywords: screen printing, textiles, qulity of printing process, discharge inks, color difference.

doi: 10.32403/0554-4866-2025-2-90-26-33