Printing sleeves and rollers
Graphene nanotubes for printing rollers and sleeves: improved safety and quality of printing
Graphene nanotubes provide printing rollers and sleeves with stable, long-lasting anti-static performance, helping maintain ESD-safe operation and low-defect printing. Unlike traditional conductive additives, nanotubes do not migrate or cause surface marking, ensuring clean roller surfaces and consistent print quality.
Nanotube-enhanced rollers and sleeves retain low hardness and high mechanical properties and offer broad design flexibility, including colorability. They are suitable for a wide range of ink types, including solvent-based inks, and perform reliably in flexographic printing on plastic films, cardboard, and paper. Supplied in ready-to-use forms, graphene nanotubes enable clean, dust-free processing and are fully compatible with standard manufacturing equipment and production technologies.
Contact us to discuss your project specifications or to request a TUBALL™ product sample
Main properties
Permanent electrical resistance <10⁶ Ω
Clean,
smooth surface
Preserved mechanical properties
No surface contamination
Graphene nanotubes for printing cylinders
How to reduce scrap in printing
Printing rollers and sleeves often operate at high speeds, where friction between substrates, inks, and machine components rapidly generates static electricity. Even small electrostatic charges can attract dust and ink mist, leading to print defects, streaks, and higher scrap rates. Static buildup can also cause substrate misalignment and unstable web handling, particularly when printing on plastic films or lightweight packaging materials. In environments using solvent-based inks, uncontrolled static may even create spark and ignition risks. Anti-static rollers and sleeves dissipate charge continuously, ensuring stable ink transfer, cleaner surfaces, and safer operation. As a result, they help maintain consistent print quality, higher production efficiency, and reduced scrap rate.
Graphene nanotubes offer better performance
TUBALL™ graphene nanotubes provide an excellent combination of properties for various polymeric materials used in printing rollers and sleeves, including:
- Polyurethane rollers for printing on plastic, cardboard, and paper packaging
- Silicone printing rollers
- Flexo printing sleeves with a polyester/epoxy fiberglass composite core and thermoset PU covering
Thanks to the unique morphology of graphene nanotubes and the ultralow dosages required—dozens of times lower than conventional anti-static agents—nanotubes enable permanent electrical conductivity while preserving hardness, tensile strength, color flexibility, and non-marking performance.
- Diagram
- Table
- TUBALL™ graphene nanotubes
- Carbon black
- Liquid anti-static agents
* This diagram provides average trends compared with other additives, based on OCSiAl data. Product performance may vary depending on product type and formulation.
Permanent electrical conductivity
TUBALL™ graphene nanotubes create a widespread 3D conductive network throughout the material thickness, enabling stable anti-static performance over the entire service life without degradation or insulating “hot spots”. This prevents spark buildup and helps reduce scrap rates.
Possibility for colored products
Tiny working amount of TUBALL™ graphene nanotubes makes it possible to combine electrical conductivity with good aesthetics and broad color possibilities, helping differentiate products on the market.
Contáctenos para analizar las especificaciones de su proyecto o solicitar una muestra de TUBALL™ MATRIX
Additional benefits
Maintained original hardness
Stability in casting process
Clean production
Ready-to-apply solutions
TUBALL™ MATRIX is a line of concentrates based on polymer carriers and pre-dispersed TUBALL™ graphene nanotubes. They are developed for easy adoption of nanotubes into standard technological process and integration into the original formulation of compounds. It can be diluted into resin using a high-speed mixer, a bead mill, or a three-roll mill, depending on product type.
Contáctenos para obtener las guías de procesamiento de productos y documentación técnica adicional
TUBALL™ MATRIX 202
Aditivo conductivo para PU aromático y alifático sin disolventes (poliéster, poliéter, TDI/MDI, otros) y sistemas fenólicos. Se utiliza ampliamente para revestimientos de PU y elastómeros fundidos. Impacto mínimo en la resina receptora debido a la menor dosis de trabajo en comparación con TUBALL™ MATRIX 209
TUBALL™ MATRIX 203
Aditivo conductivo basado en un plastificante con un agente estabilizador para recubrimientos epoxi y PU con disolvente sin afectación en el color y las propiedades mecánicas
TUBALL™ MATRIX 204
Aditivo conductivo versátil basado en un plastificante y un agente estabilizador para revestimientos de poliéster y éster de vinilo, para aplicaciones de melamina y acrílico base solvente. También se recomienda para compuestos de poliéster y ésteres de vinilo
TUBALL™ MATRIX 208
Aditivo conductivo basado en un plastificante con un agente estabilizador para recubrimientos epoxi y PU con disolvente sin afectación en el color y las propiedades mecánicas
TUBALL™ MATRIX 209
Aditivo conductivo para PU aromático y alifático sin disolventes (poliéster, poliéter, TDI/MDI, otros) y sistemas fenólicos. Se utiliza ampliamente para revestimientos de PU y elastómeros fundidos. Fácil de diluir en comparación con TUBALL™ MATRIX 202
TUBALL™ MATRIX 601
Agente conductor no reticulado para siliconas líquidas, que no causa impacto negativo en el color, la viscosidad y la durabilidad del material
Anti-static Polyurethane: Overview of the production and the product niche with an OCSiAl expert
Media on graphene nanotubes in printing rollers and sleeves
Publicado:New Printing Sleeves With Graphene Nanotubes
https://industrytoday.com/new-printing-sleeves-with-graphene-nanotubes/
Publicado:Graphene nanotubes: add conductivity with better processing to PU rollers & sleeves
https://www.extrusion-world.com/en/detail-view/graphene-nanotubes-add-conductivity-with-better-processing-to-pu-rollers-sleeves/
Scientific validation
Polyurethane
OCSiAl highlights the efficacy of its graphene nanotubes as antistatic agents in PU
Tuball™ products are not only able to overcome the previous difficulties with nanotube dispersion in PU systems, but they are also effective replacements for the ammonium salts and carbon black antistatic agents conventionally used in PU applications.
Publicado:
Composites
Interlocking Matrix and Filler for Enhanced Individualization and Reinforcement in Polymer–Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Composites
SWCNT-enhanced polymer, in which every monomer is decorated with a U-shaped fragment, exhibits significantly increased mechanical properties when compared to the matrix polymer.
Publicado:
Composites
Preparation and functional study of epoxy composites reinforced with ultra-low content single-walled carbon nanotubes
It was shown that the electrical conductivity of SWCNT/epoxy composites increased by 7 orders of magnitude over that of epoxy resin when the content of SWCNTs was 0.005 wt%. The impact strength, tensile strength, and elastic modulus of the materials were increased by 47.9%, 58.9%, and 19.0%, respectively.
Publicado:
Composites
On the effect of electric field application during the curing process on the electrical conductivity of single-walled carbon nanotubes–epoxy composites
Applying an electric field during the curing of SWCNT/epoxy nanocomposites promotes the orientation and assembly of nanotubes into a more efficient conductive network, reducing electrical resistivity by up to one order of magnitude even at ultra-low loadings (0.01 wt%).
Publicado: