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.

Printing sleeves and rollers
Contact us to discuss your project specifications or to request a TUBALL™ product sample

Main properties

  • Permanent electrical resistance < 10⁶ Ω

    Permanent electrical resistance < 10⁶ Ω
  • Clean,
    smooth surface

    Clean, smooth surface
  • Preserved mechanical properties

    Preserved mechanical properties
  • No surface contamination

    No surface contamination
Graphene nanotubes for printing cylinders

Graphene nanotubes for printing cylinders

How to reduce scrap in printing

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

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
  • 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

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.

Permanent electrical conductivity
Possibility for colored products

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.

Possibility for colored products

Contact us to discuss your project specifications or to request a TUBALL™ MATRIX sample

MATRIX sample
Additional benefits

Additional benefits

  • Maintained original hardness

    Maintained original hardness
  • Stability in casting process

    Stability in casting process
  • Clean production

    Clean production
Ready-to-apply solutions

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.

TUBALL™ MATRIX 202

Additif antistatique et conducteur d’électricité à base de plastifiant sans phtalate pour composés de polyuréthane et de phénol sans solvant, n'affectant pas négativement la couleur et les propriétés mécaniques du matériau

TUBALL™ MATRIX 203

Additif antistatique et conducteur d’électricité à base de plastifiant (du groupe des esters glycidyliques simples) pour revêtements epoxy et polyuréthane à base de solvant, n'affectant pas négativement la couleur et les propriétés mécaniques du matériau.

TUBALL™ MATRIX 204

Agent conducteur d’électricité universel pour composés acryliques, mélaminés, de vinylester et polyester, n'affectant pas négativement la couleur et les propriétés mécaniques du matériau.

TUBALL™ MATRIX 208

Additif conducteur d’électricité à base de plastifiant (du groupe des esters glycidyliques simples) pour revêtements epoxy et polyuréthane à base de solvant, n'affectant pas négativement la couleur et les propriétés mécaniques du matériau

TUBALL™ MATRIX 209

Additif conducteur d’électricité à base de plastifiant sans phtalate pour composés de polyuréthane et de phénol sans solvant (avec dilution simplifiée), n'affectant pas négativement la couleur et les propriétés mécaniques du matériau

TUBALL™ MATRIX 301

Additif conducteur d’électricité pour composites epoxy, revêtements et composés de polyuréthane sans solvant, n'affectant pas négativement la couleur et les propriétés mécaniques du matériau

TUBALL™ MATRIX 302

Additif conducteur d’électricité pour revêtements à base d’eau, n'affectant pas négativement la couleur et les propriétés mécaniques du matériau

TUBALL™ MATRIX 601

Agent conducteur d'électricité non réticulable pour silicones liquides, n’affectant pas négativement la couleur, la viscosité et la durabilité du matériau

Application cases

Application cases


  • How can you produce conductive PU rollers & sleeves with better processing?

  • Anti-static Polyurethane: Overview of the production and the product niche with an OCSiAl expert

Media on graphene nanotubes in printing rollers and sleeves


  • Scientific validation