These are the guidelines to making luminous ink, phosphorescent coatings, and glow in the dark screen print ink. Your application may require some adjustments to the technical material below
Mix the Phosphorescent Pigment into clear vehicles. Any pigment in the medium will obscure the luminosity.
1. Viscosity of ink should be about 3000-5000 micro-poises. During printing viscosity should be adjusted by using a diluting agent based on printing speed.

2. Apply a white background coat under the luminous material layer to improve afterglow. Having the glow on top of any other color will diminish the glow strength.

3. 100 um film thickness is required to achieve the best results. If you want the maximum luminous effect use 130-150 um thickness. Sometimes more than one pass will be necessary to obtain the level of glow required.

4. If screen printing clothes try to use white fabric, any other color will decrease the glow. If using a non-white fabric, place a white layer below the luminous layer for the best glowing effect.

5. SUNLITE carries many variations of Glow Powder. Use the chart to determine the powder particle size to suit your needs. As a general rule of thumb, the larger the opening in the mesh the more glow you will have and it is suggested to use 80-100 mesh.

6. Due to the nature of the Glow Powder, an anti-settling agent may be required. Photo-luminescent pigment is heavier than most vehicles and settling might occur. Therefore use a viscous vehicle or an anti-settling agent, but always stir before printing.

7. One kilogram of dry Glow Powder can cover an area roughly 3.3 square meters or 12 square feet with a 150 um thick film. One gram covers approximately 25 square centimeters.

8. Use inks with pH levels around 7.

9. Generally speaking 10%-50% by weight is the best ratio for mixing Glow Powder to a vehicle. The percentage depends on how much glow is desired, how many passes you want to make, the screen mesh size, etc. Determine the thickness, size, and resolution of the printing area. If the base is a color other than white you may need to add more Glow Powder to achieve desired results.

How to Make Glow Plastic:

. 1. You can mix Glow Powder in with acrylic, polyester, polypropylene, epoxy, PVC, polyethylene (HDPE, LDPE etc.) polymers.

2. You can extrude, mold, dip and cast this material.

3. Use less Super Phosphorescent Pigment (including Advanced Series Phosphorescent Pigment) than other ZnS (Short Glow) luminous pigments.

4. Keep the temperature low as possible while extruding.

5. Master Batches of luminous material must be completely dried up before usage.

Master Batch Manufacturing

1. Clean the interior of the extruder before manufacturing with the Plastic Master Batch.

2. Keep the resin and pigment dry before the extruding process is started.

3. It is recommended to use a machine with twin hoppers and a distributive screw design. Use one of the hoppers to feed the resin and additives and the second for the glow pigment. Doing so will decrease the abrasion to the extruder surfaces.

4. Do not stir for a long time because this might darken the pigment/resin.

5. Keep the processing temperature 10 degrees higher than a normal run of plastic.

6. Clean the extruder again by running clear resin through until clear resin can be seen coming out of the extruder.

7. Use ceramic, glass or hard metal containers because the Glow Powder will react to heavy metals causing discoloration.

8. Mix the Glow Powder with liquid paraffin. Ratio of the liquid paraffin to the plastic particle is 1 -1.5% of the plastic particle.

9. Using the white mine oil makes the powder stick evenly with the plastic.

Disclaimer: The information provided by SUNLITE is believed to be accurate and is to aid our clients. No warranty, express or implied, is made in relation to the information provided and your application. We recommend our clients to test their products thoroughly. Glow times for each pigment vary for numerous reasons and SUNLITE does not make any guarantees that your glow times will be equal due to the numerous factors involved.

All Rights Reserved @ 2001 Sun-Lite (U.K.) Ltd.