WAALWIJK, the Netherlands — IGM Resins has moved its offices, laboratory and technical team in Italy to 600 square meters of new space in the Gerenzano Insubrias Biopark near Milan. IGM acquired the photoinitiator business of Lamberti on June 30, 2015. The new laboratory offers full capabilities for new product development and scale-up, research and application evaluation, product customization, and customer consultations; it is complementary to the company’s application and development capabilities in France, the United States and China.

Services include assisting customers in selecting the optimum photoinitiator package for their formulations from IGM’s portfolio, as well as tailoring products for specific applications. One area of the lab is exclusively dedicated to food packaging and PI migration analysis, equipped with UHPLC and mass spectroscopy. Graphic arts applications also have dedicated equipment, including an inkjet printer and state-of-the-art LED curing capabilities.

Key R&D capabilities include synthesis of new molecules and scale-up from pot to pilot plant and from pilot to commercial production scale. The manufacturing unit and pilot plant are nearby.

Research and application lab facilities allow development and comparison of photoinitiator properties, evaluation of PI curing speed by traditional and instrumental methods, and evaluation of inks and coatings in terms of properties, curing, and abrasion resistance. Testing may be performed using mercury or LED lamps in air or nitrogen atmosphere.

“These new lab facilities offer additional resources for developing new-generation materials including photoinitiators for LED and for low-migration applications — two very high-growth markets for the UV ink and coatings industry,” said Edward Frindt, CEO of IGM Resins. “They also enhance our tradition of working closely with our customers to help them improve their products.”

IGM specializes in the development, manufacture and supply of products and technical services to the global UV ink coatings and adhesives industry. IGM develops, produces and distributes a full range of radiation-curable materials including acrylate oligomers and monomers, photoinitiators, and additives.