Anti-counterfeit technology wins innovation award 

An innovative new way of authenticating documents such as gift vouchers and anti-counterfeit packaging to dash the attempts of counterfeiters, has won a team of scientists from Portals (Bathford) – a manufacturer of high security paper - the Royal Society of Chemistry's Industrial Innovation Team Award.  

The team triumphed over tough competition in the category of 'Small Enterprise' and received an inscribed crystal punchbowl, scroll and cheque for £3,500 at an awards ceremony held in London.  

Security threads either embedded in paper or in so-called “windows” (another Portals invention) in paper provide important protection against the counterfeiting of documents. We are familiar with their use in banknotes, passports and gift vouchers and their presence is clearly identified by retailers and the public. The team from Portals (Bathford) who won the award took this security feature a step further with their new Thermotext® security threads which provide instant verification of documents simply by the warmth of a finger’ s touch.

The security threads are based on the use of thermochromic inks which are used to mask underlying text or images of the same colour printed on films underneath. These colour inks are reversible heat-sensitive chemical systems, which show a colour change when warmed by touch. This occurs as the crystalline state of the material changes when heated, for example from a coloured solid to a colourless liquid. When the ink colour changes, the image or text underneath is revealed for a few seconds, and then as it cools down again the image or text is hidden from view. Original documents containing the threads are instantly checked, and the sophisticated security threads are virtually impossible to copy. 

Throughout their development of this security thread, the team at Portals (Bathford) worked closely with De La Rue Tapes to make sure their invention would work under manufacturing conditions. Various modifications to the threads were made to allow different colour combinations of inks for the two parts of the thread. The latest development from the company is a two colour purple thread for use in a Title Document. The top colour ink becomes colourless at higher temperatures which makes it easier to distinguish the hidden image or text beneath. The ink is purple at 25°C, pink up to 35°C, then clear above 35°C with pink text revealed.

Simon Jarvis, Managing Director of Portals (Bathford) said: “One of the main reasons that Portals (Bathford) has become the World leader in the manufacture of security paper is the high degree of chemical and industrial experience which exists within our organisation. This award from the Royal Society of Chemistry is a tribute not only to the skill of our paper makers, but to the acuity of the R&D team in identifying key customer needs, and to their ability in harnessing innovation to fulfill them. We are absolutely delighted that this has been recognized by such a prestigious organisation as the RSC and we will display the punchbowl with a great deal of pride.”