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Printing & Coatings
Ultraviolet Curing, the process of transforming a liquid into a solid by the use of UV light, is an energy-efficient and relatively low temperature technology with many applications in printing and coating.
It is used on virtually all substrates : paper, plastic, film and foil, wood, metal, glass, fibers and composites.
Speed and controllability in a huge variety of applications are driving increasing worldwide markets for this proven technology.
UV brings huge benefits to printing, such as quality, increased production speed, reduction of set up and clean up time, elimination of workplace solvents and VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds).
This technology continues to find new applications with the research and development of inks and coatings, and the correct interaction between high performance UV lamps and photochemical formulations allows the replacement and consistent improvement of existing and mature solvent based processes.
UV curable inks and coatings generally consist of four components : monomers, oligomers, pigments (and other additives) and photo initiators. The only optically active ingredient is the photo initiator, in fact it is the only component that reacts to UV light : when a photon of UV strikes a photo initiator molecule, it triggers the curing reaction. The material is usually solidified in a fraction of a second and, because the process relies on UV to initiate the polymerisation and cross-linking of molecules, it does not evaporate any solvent, nor significantly heat the substrate.
Applications:
- Flexography
- Narrow Web
- Wide Web
- Web Press Coating
- Web Offset
- Sheet Offset
- Screen printing
- Gravure
- Pad printing
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