Dye or pigment? How to choose the ink of inkjet printer?

    Photos will fade if they are kept at home for half a year?

    Usually like to print photos with color jet printer, I must have a deep understanding of this. In particular, the fading of photos exposed to the air for a long time will be more obvious, while the photos collected in the album can remain bright and do not fade for a long time. Why?

    In fact, this is due to the nature of inkjet printer ink. At present, there are two kinds of common inkjet printer ink, namely dye ink and pigment ink.

    Dye ink: composed of specific molecules. The colorant of dye ink is soluble in water. At the same time, due to the simple production process of dye ink and low cost, some compatible consumables manufacturers will use black dye ink.

    Pigment ink: compared with dye ink, the colorant of pigment ink is insoluble in water or pigment, and can be suspended in water with the help of dispersant. It is an opaque liquid. Pigment inks are more durable, waterproof, fade resistant and last longer.

    The difference between the two

    1) Waterproof performance

    In fact, as mentioned above, dye ink is easily soluble in water and other chemical reagents, so it is not easy to block the printer nozzle, and the printing is relatively smooth. However, in terms of waterproof performance, it is easy to melt after being exposed to water. Most of the pigment inks use special polymer adhesives, so that the pigment has strong adhesion, and the print head is stable and not blocked. When the ink is dry, a protective film will be formed on the pigment surface, which plays an effective role in waterproof.

    2) Anti fading performance

    As the colorant of dye ink is directly exposed to the air, the chemical chain of colorant may break under the action of light and oxygen, resulting in discoloration. The printed manuscript will fade for a long time, which is not conducive to long-term preservation. The colorant of pigment ink is a highly crushed mineral with high stability. The outer layer of colorant is wrapped with resin layer to avoid contact with air and reduce the possibility of chemical chain fracture. Therefore, it is not easy to fade.

    How to choose?

    1) Pigment ink has more advantages in waterproof and anti fading, but dye ink is better and cheaper in bright colors and smooth printing.

    2) In addition, if documents need to be saved for a long time, pigment ink is the most suitable. If they are used once, dye ink with low cost and good color is a good choice.

    Summary:

    Generally speaking, at present, the black ink used by most consumer printers is pigment ink. The printed content is waterproof and can be stored for a long time. The color ink uses dye ink, which is more economical to print photos.

    In order to ensure the long-term preservation of documents and PPT, the inks used in some office inkjet printers are generally pigment inks.

    Therefore, we all know why the photos will fade after half a year at home. The reason lies in the ink.