High Viscosity, High Potential: Nazdar’s Next Chapter in Inkjet Innovation

By FuturePrint Editorial Team

At FuturePrint, innovation often begins with a question. For Nazdar’s Dean Allen and Morgane Galizzi, that question was: What could we achieve if we pushed the boundaries of ink viscosity in inkjet printing?

Their answer is an unfolding story—one written with collaboration, experimentation, and a healthy dose of curiosity. In a refreshingly honest and entertaining presentation, Allen, Nazdar’s Business Development Manager, and Galizzi, an R&D Chemist, explained how high viscosity inks are unlocking new possibilities in print—particularly for corrugated packaging and functional applications.

Traditionally, inkjet inks operate within a viscosity range of 2 to 12 centipoise. But Nazdar’s work has pushed that to 50 centipoise. As Allen explains, this shift allows their chemists to expand their creative “palette”—enabling the use of more varied, functional chemicals that would otherwise be unsuitable in low-viscosity formulations. “It’s like moving from four pages of a chemistry book to four chapters,” Allen said.

This leap was sparked in collaboration with printhead manufacturer Xaar, who initiated the high viscosity conversation. After some initial tests, Nazdar partnered with Swansea University to broaden the exploration, bringing in fresh, research-led insights. The results?

A growing portfolio of high viscosity ink solutions, including applications in flexible packaging, textiles, coding and marking, and most notably, aqueous corrugated printing.

Galizzi shared some of the technical findings: higher viscosity formulations allow for increased pigment loading and more robust binders. This results in enhanced colour density, better durability, and reduced ink penetration—particularly useful for printing on untreated corrugated substrates.

In real-world tests using a Xaar Aquinox printhead, Nazdar compared its 50 centipoise ink to a standard 10 centipoise formulation. On untreated brown corrugated board, the high viscosity ink delivered a 20% boost in colour density. On white clay-coated board, the improvement ranged between 32% and 37%. When comparing air-dried 10 centipoise inks to high-viscosity inks printed with IR assistance, colour density increased by up to 50%.

These results are not just numbers—they point to significant operational and environmental benefits. “Faster drying means reduced energy usage,” Allen noted. “And with greater throw distances, you can reduce head strikes and improve flexibility in press design.”

Importantly, this is still the beginning. “We’re writing the book as we go,” Allen said, referencing the evolving body of work Nazdar is building. Some chapters—like aqueous corrugated—are already showing commercial promise. Others, such as high viscosity in flexible packaging, are still in early exploration.

What started with scepticism has now become a key focus area for Nazdar’s innovation efforts. The team hopes high viscosity will soon be considered a mainstream option by OEMs building the next generation of presses.

“This isn’t just about ink—it’s about what that ink makes possible,” Allen concluded. “We’re inviting the industry to imagine new applications, efficiencies, and design possibilities. High viscosity is not just a feature. It’s a catalyst.”