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

비프탈레이트 가소제(Non-phthalate Plasticizer) 기반의 전도성 첨가제 (폴리우레탄 및 페놀성 용제가 없는 시스템): 색상이나 기계적인 물성에 미치는 영향에 적음

TUBALL™ MATRIX 203

가소제(Glycidyl ether group) 기반의 전도성 첨가제 (용제가 함유된 에폭시나 폴리우레탄 시스템): 색상이나 기계적인 물성에 미치는 영향이 적음

TUBALL™ MATRIX 204

다용도 전도성 첨가제 (아크릴, 멜라민, 비닐에스터, 폴리우레탄 시스템) : 색상이나 기계적인 물성에 미치는 영향이 적음

TUBALL™ MATRIX 208

가소제 (Glycidyl ether group) 기반의 전도성 첨가제 (용제가 함유된 에폭시 시스템 및 폴리우레탄 코팅) : 색상이나 기계적인 물성에 미치는 영향이 적음

TUBALL™ MATRIX 209

비프탈레이트 가소제(Non-phthalate Plasticizer) 기반의 전도성 첨가제 (폴리우레탄 및 페놀성 무용제 시스템) : 색상이나 기계적인 물성에 미치는 영향이 적음

TUBALL™ MATRIX 301

전도성 첨가제 (무용제 에폭시 복합재, 코팅, 폴리우레탄 시스템): 색상이나 기계적인 물성에 미치는 영향이 적음

TUBALL™ MATRIX 302

전도성 첨가제 (수계 코팅 시스템): 색상이나 기계적인 물성에 미치는 영향이 적음

TUBALL™ MATRIX 601

비가교결합형 전도성 첨가제 (액상 실리콘) : 색상이나, 점도(흐름성), 내구성에 미치는 영향이 적음

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