Organisations
Cooperative Research Centre for Functional Communication Surfaces
abbreviation: CRC Smartprint
type: mixed
location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
WWW: www.crc-fcs.com
description
Applying materials capable of conveying information to a reader – whether human or instrument – onto many different substrates is what printing is all about. Up to now, this has been mainly inks and coatings applied to papers, plastics and metals. The packaging industry makes wide use of printing in identifying and tracking packaged goods all the way from manufacturer to consumer - think about labels and barcodes just for a start.
At the CRC Smartprint, we are looking for ways to make both substrates and their coating materials “smart” so that they can take advantage of new computer technologies. This means studying how papers, synthetics and liquids work, separately and together.
The range of scientific disciplines involved include coating science, extensional rheology, surface energy, surface chemistry, polymer rheology, optics, print quality analysis, colloid science and microanalysis of coating chemistry and coating structure.
