GB2176202A - Flexible photopolymer printing plate composition - Google Patents

Abstract

A flexible photopolymer printing plate composition comprises a homogenous blend of: (A) a high molecular weight butadiene-acrylonitrile copolymer having a number average molecular weight of about 30,000 to 125,000, an acrylonitrile content of 10 to 50% by weight, a carboxyl content of 2 to 15% by weight, and a Mooney viscosity (ML-4 at 100 DEG C) of 45 or higher; and (B) a medium molecular weight butadiene-acrylonitrile copolymer having a number average molecular weight of about 15,000 to 40,000, an acrylonitrile content of 10 to 40% by weight, a carboxyl content of 1-15%, and a Mooney viscosity of from 15 to less than 45. The copolymer blend is used together with an ethylenically unsaturated cross-linking agent and a photo initiator.

Description

SPECIFICATION Photosensitive elastomeric polymer composition for flexographic printing plate Description ofthe ihvention Field of Invention This invention relates to high molecularweight butadiene-acrylonitrile copolymers (NBR) containing carboxyl groups blended with medium molecularweight butadiene-acrylonitrile copolymers also containing carboxyl groups to produce photosensitive elastomeric articles which are designed to be used primarily as flexographic printing plates.

Backgroundofthe invention British Patent No. 1,358,062 discloses photosensitive compositions consisting of a nitrile rubber with a photopolymerizabletri- ortetra-unsaturated ester derived from acrylic or methacrylic acid and in addition, a polymerization initiator activatable by actinic radiation.

U.S. Patent No.3,825,430 discloses a photosensitive composition containing a continuous phase of a light sensitive organic material and a discontinuous phase of finely divided, elastomeric organic compound uniformly distributed through the continuous phase, i.e. a carboxyl containing, high molecularweight butadiene-acrylonitrile copolymer.

U.S. Patent No.4,177,074 discloses a photosensitive composition containing a high molecular weight butadiene-acrylonitrile copolymerwhich contains carboxyl groups a low molecular weight butadiene polymer which may or may not contain carboxyl groups and an ethylenically unsaturated monomer, and afree-radical generating system. This composition is said to be useful forflexographic printing plates.

U.S. Patent No.4,272,608 discloses photosensitive elastomeric compositions comprising a high molecular weight carboxylated butadiene-acrylonitrile copolymer in which at least 25% of the carboxyl groups are neutralized with a metal cation of Groups IIA or IIB of the periodic table and an ethylenically unsaturated monomer and a free radical generating system.

The art is continually seeking photosensitive elastomeric compositions for use in flexographic printing plates which have more rapid cure rates, i.e., require less exposure time withoutthe attendant disadvantages normally associated with said improved sensitivity, e.g., shoulder build-up.

Summary ofthe invention The present invention is a flexible photopolymer printing plate composition comprising a blend of: (A) a high molecular weight butadiene-acrylonitrile coploymer having a number average molecularweight Mn) of about 30,000 to 125,000, an acrylonitrile content of 1 Oto 50% by weight, a carboxyl content of 2to 15% by weight and a Mooney viscosity (ML-4 at 100 C) of 45 or higher; (B) a medium molecularweight butadiene-acrylonitrile copolymer having a number average molecular weight of about 15,000 to 40,000, an acrylonitrile content of 10 to 40% by weight, a carboxyl content of 1-15% by weight and a Mooney viscosity (ML-4 at 100 C) of from 15to less than 45;; (C) a photopolymerizable, ethylenically unsaturated cross-linking agent compatible with polymers (A) and (B); and (D) an addition polymerization initiator activatable by actinic radiation.

This invention provides photosensitive materials for producing flexographic printing plates with the advantages of increased production rates, reduced costs, and labor savings over conventional platemaking procedures. The blends of the high medium molecular weight carboxylated copolymers also have improved ink compatibility over prior art blends, due to the absence of liquid copolymers. Not only do these compositions also show improved sensitometric properties (faster cure rate) requiring less exposure to actinic radiation to reproduce finely detailed images but serendipitously exhibitvery little shoulder build-up.

Detailed description of the invention The compositions ofthis invention comprise a high molecular weight butadiene-acrylonitrile copolymer (A) having a number average molecular weight of from 30,000 to 125,000, preferably from 45,000 to 110,000. The acrylonitrile content of this copolymer is from about 10 to 50% preferably from about 20 to 40% by weight, a carboxyl content of from about 2 to 25% preferably about 3 to 10%, most preferably from about 4to 8% by weight. The Mooney viscosity (ML-4 at 100 C) is 45 or higher, preferably 45 to 75.

The blendsofthis invention further contain a medi u m medium molecularweightcarboxylated butadiene- acrylonitrile copolymer (B) having a number average molecular weight of from 15,000 to 40,000 preferably of from 20,000 to 30,000; an acrylonitrile content of from about 10 to 40%, preferably from about 20 to 35% by weight; a carboxyl content of from about 1 to 1 5% prefera bly about 4 to 10% by weight (B); and a Mooney viscosity (ML-4 at 100 C) of 15to less than 45; preferably 15 to 40.

The (A)/(B) weight ratio may range from 80/20 to 30/70, usually from 70/30to 40/60, most preferably 65/35-45/55, provided that the Mooney viscosity of such blend falls within a range of from about 20-55, preferably from about 25-50 and most preferably from about 30-50 (ML-4 at 100 C).

Furthermore, the photosensitive compositions of this invention comprise ethylenically unsaturated crosslinking agents (C) including unsaturated esters of polyols, particularly such esters with alpha-methylene carboxylic acids, e.g. ethylene glycol diacrylate, diethylene glycol diacrylate, glycerol diacrylate, glycerol triacrylate, mannitol polyacrylate, sorbitol polyacrylate, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, 1,3-propanediol dimethacrylate, 1,3,4-butanetriol trimethacrylate, 1 4-butanediol diacrylate or dimethacrylate, 1,4- cyclohexanediol diacrylate, 1,4-benzenediol dimethacrylate, isosorbidene diacrylate, pentaerythritol di-, tri and tetramethacrylate, dipentaerythritol polyacrylate, dipentaerythritol polyacrylate, pentaerythritol di, tri and tetra-acrylates, 1 3-propanediol diacrylate, 1 ,6-hexanediol diacrylate or dimethacrylate,1,5-pentanediol dimethacrylate, trimethylolpropane triacrylate, the bisacrylates and methacrylates of polyethylene glycols of molecular weight 200 to 4000, unsaturated amides, particularly those of the alpha-methylene carboxylic acids and especially those of alpha, omega-diamines and oxygen-interrupted omega-diaminessuch as methylene bisacrylamide, methylene bismethacrylamide, ethylene bismethacrylamide,1,6-mexamethylene bisacryla mide, diethylene triamine, trismethacrylamide, 1 ,2-di(gamma-methacrylamidopropoxy)ethane, beta methacrylaminoethyl methyacrylate, N-(beta-hydroxyethyl)-2-(methacrylamido) ethyl acrylate and N,N bis(beta-methacryloxethyl)acrylamide; vinyl esters such as divinyl succinate, divinyl adipate, divinyl phtha- late, divinyl terepthalate, divinyl benzene-1,3-disulfonate, divinyl butane-1,4-disulfonate and unsaturated aldehydes, such as sorbaldehyde (hexadienal). Preferred addition polymerizable crosslinking agents are the esters and am ides of alpha-methylene carboxylic acids and substituted carboxylic acids with polyols and polyamineswherein the molecular chain between the hydroxyls and amino groups is solely carbon or oxygen-interrupted carbon.

The amount of unsaturated crosslinking agent added should be about 2 to 40 parts byweightpreferably about 5 to 25 parts by weight based on 100 parts of the elastomer content. The exact amount will varyforbest results depending on the particular composition used.

The most preferred unsaturated crosslinking agents are 1,4-hexandiol diacrylate, 1 ,4-hexanediol dimethyl acrylate,trimethylolpropane triacrylate and pentaerythritol triacrylate. The preferred compositions are those in which the high molecular weight copolymers are compatible with the unsaturated compounds to form clear, non-lightscattering compositions in layers lessthan .250 inch (ca. 6.4 mm)thick.

Anothercomponent(D) of the photosensitive composition ofthis invention is an addition polymerization and/orcrosslinking initiator activatable by actinic radiation and thermally inactive at or below 185 C. Such initiators include aromatic ketones such as benzophenone and substituted benzophen ones, the su bstituted or unsubstituted polynuclearquinones which are compounds having two intracyclic carbonyl groups attached to intracyclic carbon atoms in a conjugated six-membered carbocyclic ring, there being at least one aromatic carbocyclic ring fused to the ring containing the carbonyl groups.Such suitable initiators include 9,10 anthraquinone, 1 -chloroanthraquinone, 2-chloroanthraquinone, 2-methylanthraquinone, 2-tert- butylanthraquinone, octamethylanthraquinone, 1 ,4-naphthoquinone, 9,1 0-phenanthrenequinone, 1,2- benzanthraquinone, 2,3-benzanthraquinone, 2-methyl-1 ,4-napthoquinone, 2,3-dichloronaphthoquinone, 1,4- dimethylanthraquinone, 2,3-dimethylanthraquinone, 2-phenylanthraquinone, 2,3-diphenylanthraquinone, sodium salt of anthraquinone, alpha-sulfonic acid,3-chloro-2-methylanthraquinone, retenequinone, 7,8,9,10 tetrahydronaphthacenequinone, and 1 ,2,3,44etrahydrobenz-alpha-anthracene-7,1 2-dione. Other photoin itiators which are useful forthe purpose of this invention are described in U.S. Patent No.2,760,863 and include vicinal ketaldonyl compounds such a diacetyl benzil, etc., alpha-ketaldonyl alcohols, such as benzoin, pivaloin, etc. acyloin ethers, e.g. benzoin methyl and ethyl ethers, etc., alpha-hydrocarbon substituted aromatic acyloins, including alpha-methylbenzoin, alpha-allylbenzoin and alpha-phenylbenzoin and 2,2 dialkoxy-2- phenylacetophenone.

The amount of photoinitiatoradded should be from about0.01 to 10 parts by weight based on 100 parts of the total elastomer,the preferred range being from about 0.2 to4.

The photosensitive composition can be prepared by mixing the components, i.e. (A) the high molecular weight butadiene-acrylonitrile carboxyl containing copolymer, (B) the medium molecular weight butadiene- acrylonitrile carboxyl containing copolymer, (C) the compatible ethylenically unsaturated crosslinking agent, and (D) the free-radical generating system to a preferably homogeneous blend either by solvent blending in suitable solvents such as chlorinated hydrocarbons, e.g., trichloroethylene, trichloroethane and chioroto luene; ketones, e.g., methyl ethyl ketone, diethyl ketone, and methyl isobutyl ketone; aromatic hydrocarbons, e.g.,toluene and tetrahydrofuran or by open milling or by internally mixing for a time long enough to blendthe ingredients thoroughly, preferably homogeneously.

Thenon-lightscattering compositions are then formed into sheets in any desired mannerofthicknesses from 0.0005 to .250 inch (0.0013-0.64cm). Such methods are, for example, solvent-casting, hot pressing, calendering or extrusion at room temperature or at elevated temperature. The sheet may be supported during forming by a suitable supporting substrate or the sheet may be applied to a supporting substrate afterforming.

The supporting substrate can be any natural or synthetic support which exists in a flexible or rigid film or sheet form. Commonly used supports for use bythis composition in flexographic printing include metal sheets such as steel ortin coated steel and plastic films such as polyester or polyamide. The preferred supporting substrates are dimensionally stable and resistant to the washout solutions.

Asthese are photo-activated systems, it is necessaryto protect the above mentioned sheets from surface contamination by dirt and dust during storage before being exposed and washed into afinished relief imaged element. This is accomplished by lamination or application of a flexible protective cover sheetto the side ofthe element opposite that ofthe substrate. As these elements can be tacky, it is also desirable to apply a release film to the surface of the element before application ofthe protective cover sheet. This release film may be about .0002 inch (0.0051 cm) thick flexible polymeric film. Typical polymeric materials are polyamide copolym- ers orvinyl acetate copolymers.Similarly familiar release agents may also be used for this purpose, e.g., silicone, fluorocarbons and waxes as long as they are transparent and do not interfere with exposure to actinic radiation. These release agents or films promote good intimate contact between the surface of the element opposite to the substrate and the image bearing negative ortransparency applied to the element. This intimate contact is essential for accurate reproduction ofthe image on the element.

Relief printing plates are produced from the composition ofthis invention from the above described sheets.

The construction usually comprises a polyester substrate from .001 to .020 inch (0.025-.051 mm) and prefer ably 0.004-0.006 inch (0.010-0.015cm), adhered to a sheet ofthe composition ofthis invention from .005 to .250 inch (0.25-0.64cm) thick coated with a ca. 0.0002 inch (0.005 mm)thick polyamide copolymer release film on the side opposite of the substrate. This polyamidefilm may be covered and adhered to a second polyesterfilm (ca. 0.005 inch; 0.013 cm) which is a protective cover sheet. This construction is then exposed to actinic radiation through the substrate, if necessary depending on thickness, to crosslink via addition polymerization the non-relief backing area of the plate. This exposure will control the depth of relief produced in the plate (thin plates do not require this step).The plate is then turned over, and the protective cover sheet removed.

Photographic negatives ortransparencies or other image bearing media, with transparent and opaque areas used to produce the image, are laid in intimate contact with the polyamide release coated surface of the sheet of the composition of the invention. Good contact between the negative and release surface can be provided by a vacuum system that presses the negative against the sheet surface. This sandwich is then exposed to actinic radiation, e.g., ultraviolet radiation at a wavelength between 2500 Aand 5000 A, with preferred being 3600 A. On exposure, the transparent areas of the negative permit addition polymerization or crosslinking to take place. Exposure is of sufficient duration to crosslinkthe image to the substrate or the previously crosslinked sheet backing.Crosslinking will occur only in the exposed areas of the sheet (transparent areas of the negative) with no significant crosslinking occurring in the non-image, unexposed areas of the sheet (opaque areas of the negative).

Actinic radiation may be provided from any source such as, carbon arcs and high pressure mercury lamps.

Preferred sources are very high output so-called black-lightfluorescenttypes due to their high ratio of ultravioletto infrared output. Exposure times will vary, depending on the output of the lamps, distance from the lamp, the relief depth desired and the thickness of the plate. Exposure times may vary from a few seconds to several minutes.

On completion ofthe exposure, the negative is removed, and the exposed sheet is ready for development of the relief image by treating with a semi-aqueous basic solution or solvent wash. These wash systems remove the unexposed, uncrosslinked composition from the exposed sheet and do not adversely affect the exposed, crosslinked composition that forms the raised relief image. The semi-aqueous basic wash method is preferred.

Solvent wash may be accomplished as in the prior art with organic solvents such as 2-butanone, benzene, toluene, xylene, trichloroethane, trichloroethylene, tetrachlorethylene, methylchloroform, and solvent mixtures such as tetrachlorethylene with n-butanol.

Suitable semi-aqueouswashout mixtures include sodium hydroxide/isopropyl alcohol/water, sodium car bonate/2-butoxyethano I/water, sodium borate/2-butoxyethanol/water, sodium silicate/-2-butoxyethanol/ glycerol/water, sodium carbonate/2-(2-butoxyethoxy) ethanol/water, sodium hydroxide/2-(2-butoxyethoxy) ethanol/water and sodium hydroxide/i 2-ethanediol/water. Normal use of these mixtures is at elevated temperature. The preferred solution is sodium hydroxide/2-(2-butoxyethoxy) ethanol/water, i.e., (0.5% sodium hydroxide in water)/2-(2-butoxyethoxy)ethanol (5/1 ratio by volume) at 50-70"C.

As can be seen from the above, the flexible photopolymer printing plates of the present invention can be readily processed in basic aqueous, orsemi-aqueous medium solutions as well as in halogenated hydrocar bon solutions or blends of halogenated hydrocarbons and alcohols. The plates exhibit excellent solvent resistance to a wide variety of printing inks, including water, alcohol, and hydrocarbon based inks. The compositions also exhibit excellent abrasion resistance and better clarity than certain other photosensitive printing plates.

The above composition has preferred utility in raised image printing processes such as letterpress, letterset and flexographic printing, however, the compositions also have utility in other applications where image formation is utilized such as photoresists, planographic plate, "silk screen" printing and stencils.

The following examples are illustrative of the present invention and are not intended as a limitation upon the scope thereof.

Example A polymer solution was prepared by mixing the following ingredients (all in parts by weight).

CNBR-1#1 60 CNBR-2(2) 40 TM PTA3 10 Photoinitiator(4' 1 Toluene 190 Methyl ethyl ketone 47 by first blending the solvents and the antioxidant, and while heating the mixture to about SOt, adding the remaining materials. Agitation was maintained until solids were analyzed to be 32% (byweight).

Remarks (1) Carboxylated NBR; Mooney viscosity (ML-4at 100 C) = 55, acrylonitrile (ACN) content: 32%, carboxyl content: 9%, Mn ca. 75,000.

(2) Carboxylated N BR; Mooney viscosity (M L-4 at 100 C) = 35, ACN =27%, carboxyl: 3.4, Mn ca. 30,000.

(3) Trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (TMPTA) (4) 2,2-dimethoxy-2-phenylacetophenone (DMPA) The homogenous solution was then cast on a support sheet of polyester film (0.005 inch, 0.127 mm) via a doctor blade, in multiple passes to build the photosensitive composition to a dryfilm thickness of .075 inch (0.19) cm). The doctor blade was set .006 inch (0.015cm) over the polyester substrate orsupportfilm atthestart of the casting and adjusted to .006 inch over the cast material as the thickness was built to .075 inch. Each additional pass was air dried for 5 minutes before the next pass was applied. When the desired .075 inch (0.19 cm) thickness was reached, the plate wasthen oven dried at 55-65 for 6 hours to remove any remaining solvent.

The final composition had a Mooney viscosity (ML-4at 1 00t) of 47.

The platewasthen sprayed with a dry release, high molecular weight wax coating on the side opposite the polyester support sheet The plate was then exposed on the back, th rough the polyester support, for30 seconds with ultraviolet lamps (Sylvania blacklightvery high output lamps, FR-48T1 2 - B/L-VHO-1 80). The lamps were spaced apart on 2-inch (5.08 cm) centers. The plate was placed 2 inches (5.08 cm) from the lamps.

After back exposure, the plate was placed photosensitive composition up (polyester backing down) underthe lamps. A ByChrome (trademark) negative having three identical percentage-calibrated screen tints was placed in intimate contact with the release coated surface using the vacuum frame ofthe exposure unit The platewas exposed to the ultraviolet lightthrough three negatives for 8,10 and 15 minutes, respectively. After exposure, the negatives were removed, and the plate was washed for 15 minutes in a rotary brush processor using a mixture of 75% tetrachloroethylene and 25% n-butanol. After washing, the plate was dried in a forced air oven at65"Cforl hour.

The resultant printing plate had exceptional clarity, excellent image sharpness at an average relief image of 0.030 inch (0.076 cm) reproducing the 5 to 90% tones in all three negatives from 65 line to 150 line halftone.

Plate hardness was 52 (Shore A), and the plate did notcrack when flexed 180 upon itself; surprisingly, the rate of shouid build-up was much slowerthan ordinarily expected, even overthe ratherwide range of exposure times.

Example2 The composition and procedure of Example 1 was repeated exceptthatthe exposed plate was washed in a semi-aqueous mixture 0.5% NaOH in a 1/4 (by volume) 2-(2-butoxyethoxy)ethanol/water mixture. The resu 1- tant printing plate exhibitedthe same excellent characteristics asthe solvent washed plate of Example 1.

Example 3 Additional plate compositions are prepared using the procedure of Example 1, i.e., blends of high and medium molecular weight (high and medium ML-4) carboxylated nitrile rubbers, namely: Run No. 3-1 3-2 3-3 CNBR-3 70 - - CNBR-4 - 60 CNBR-5 - - 30 CNBR-6 - 40 CNBR-2 30 - 70 TMPTA 10 10 10 DMPA 2 2 2 ML-4 (100 C)(1) 41 44 47 Remarks CNBR:: BEG2) ACN COOH ML-63# Mn -3 66.6 27 3.4 45 30,000 -4 67 32 1.0 50 30,000 -5 63.5 32 4.5 75 -6 66 29 5 34 (1) After evaporation of solvent (2) 1,3-butadiene (3) Mooney viscosity (ML-4 at 100 C) After exposure and a semi-aqueous washing step, about the same photosensitive plate characteristics are observed as with the blends of Example 1.

Example 4 Afterfollowing essentially the procedure outlined in Example 1, the shoulder angles of several photopolym- er compositions were evaluated, namely, Runs No. 41, 4-1, 4-2 and 4-3, wherein No. 4-1 is identical to the composition of Example 1. No. 4-2 represents a typical composition of copending patent application S.N.

634,732 filed July26, 1984, and Nos. 4-3 and 4-4 are a composition believed to be representative of U.S. Patent No.4,177,074 (Proskow).

Resolution of images is very critical and determine the quality of a photosensitive plate. The resolution of a plate ultimately depends on the materials from which the plates are made. One way to measure such resolution is by examining the angle the shoulder makes with the printing surface of the relief image. For best results, an angle of about 60-70" or g reater is desired, a 55-60 range is acceptable, whereas an angle of less than 55 is less than acceptable by the standards ofthis invention and the industry.

Commercially acceptable 10 second Durometer hardness values (Shore Avalues determine after 10 second plunger contact with material) forflexographic photopolymer printing plates lie in the range offrom about 18 to 55, preferably from about 20-45. Shore A 10 second values below 18 are considered to betoo softfor necessary image retention.

All three plates were treated identically except for face and back exposure times. The treatment and results are summarized below: Run No, 4-1 4-2 4-3 4-4 Back exposure, minutes 0.33 0.33 4.0 0.33 Face exposure, minutes 4.0 4.0 6.0 4.0 Shoulderangle,degrees 60 45 50 55 (gummy) Durometer Hardness (Shore A after 10 seconds) 22 25 29 10 Clearly, the compositions ofthis invention can provide improved image resolution over prior art compositions.

The high-low molecularweight photosensitive blends such as exemplified by the 4-3 and 4-4 composition not only are slow cure blends, i.e., require long exposure times but invariably experience shoulder build-up problems. One would expect that in a blend having a faster cure rate at a given exposure, the shoulder build-up problems would be exacerbated. Surprisingly, as can be seen from the above, fast cure blends of this invention have significantly less shoulder build-up than the high-low blends of the prior art.

Although the invention has been illustrated by the preceding examples, it is not to be construed as being limited to the materials employed therein, but rather, the invention encompasses the generic area as hereinbefore disclosed. Various modifications and embodiments can be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

Claims (11)

1. A photosensitive elastomeric composition which comprises: (A) a butadiene-acrylonitrile copolymer having a number average molecularweight of about 30,000 to 125,000, an acrylonitrile content of 10 to 50% by weight, a carboxyl content of 2to 15% by weight, and a Mooney viscosity (ML-4 at 1 00 C) of 45 or higher; (B) a butadiene-acrylonitrile copolymer having a number average molecularweight of about 15,000 to 40,000, acrylonitrile content of 10 to 40% by weight, a carboxyl content of 1-15% by weight and a Mooney viscosity ) (ML-4 at 100"C) of from 15 to less than 45;; (C) from about 2 to 40 parts by weight based on 100 parts ofthe elastomer content, of a photopolymerizable, ethylenically unsaturated crosslinking agentcompatiblewith copolymers (A) and (B); and (D) from about 0.01 to about 10 parts by weight based on 100 parts ofthe elastomer content of an addition polymerization initiator activatable by actinic radiation, wherein the weight ratio of copolymer (A) to copolymer (B) is from 80:20to 30:70 and the Mooney viscosity (ML-4 at 1 00 C) of the composition is from about 20 to 55.

2. A composition according to claim 1 wherein: copolymer (A) has a number average molecularweight of about 45,000 to 110,000 and a Mooney viscosity (ML-4at 100 C)from about45to 75; and copolymer (B) has a number average molecularweight of about 20,000to 30,000 and a Mooneyviscosity (ML-4 at 1 00'C) from about 15 to 40.

3. A composition according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein: copolymer (A) has an acrylonitrile content of from 20 to 40% by weight; and copolymer (B) has an acrylonitrile content of from 20 to 35% byweight.

4. A composition according to any of the preceding claims wherein: copolymer (A) has a carboxyl content of from 3to 10% by weight; and copolymer(B) hasa carboxyl contentoffrom 4to 10%byweight.

5. Acomposition according to any of the preceding claims wherein the Mooney viscosity (ML-4 at 100 C)of said composition is from about 25 to 50.

6. A photosensitive elastomeric composition which comprises: A) A butadiene-acrylonitrile copolymer having a number average molecularweight offrom about 45,000 to 110,000, an acrylonitrile content offrom about 20 to 40% by weight, a carboxyl content offrom about 4 to 8% by weight, and a Mooney viscosity (ML-4 at 100 C) of 45 to 75; B) a butadiene-acrylonitrile copolymer (B) having a number average molecular weight offrom about 20,000 to 30,000, an acrylonitrile content of from about 20 to 35% by weight, a carboxyl content offrom about 4 to 10% by weight and a Mooney viscosity (ML-4 at 100 C) of from 15 to 40;; C) from about 5 to 25 parts by weight based on 100 parts ofthe elastomercontent of a photopolymerizable, ethylenically unsaturated crosslinking agent compatible with copolymers (A) and (B); and D) from about 0.2 to 4 parts by weight based on 100 parts ofthe elastomer content of an addition polymerization initiator activatable by actinic radiation; wherein the weight ratio of copolymer (A) to copolymer (B) is from 65:35 to 45:55 and the Mooneyviscosity (ML-4 at 100 C) ofthe composition isfrom about 30 to 50.

7. A photosensitivefiexogrnphic plate which comprises a substrate having thereon a layer ofthe photosensitive composition of any of the preceding claims.

8. A composition according to claim 1 and substantially as herein described.

9. A photosensitive elastomeric composition substantially as described in any of the Examples.

10. A plate according to claim 7 and substantially as herein described.

11. A photosensitive flexographic plate substantially as described in any of the Examples.