UV curing is an important technology used in many applications. This article reviews the key features of UV LED technology and how it compares with conventional mercury arc lamps.
Tracey Norton from IGM Resins explains the background to radiation curing materials for inkjet inks and how recent advances are aiding implementation in LED curing and food packaging applications.
Tim Phillips looks at the fundamental issues facing ink developers, including the trade-off between application performance and printability, carrier choice, dispersion quality, characterisation and application-specific issues.
Another interesting presentation at the 21st European Inkjet conference run by IMI Europe was from FUJIFILM Speciality Ink Systems. Jon Harper-Smith described a new hybrid UV ink technology that they have been developing.
UV curable inks primarily contain reactive monomers, photo initiators, oligomers, pigments and additives. When the ink reacts to UV light in the curing process, the monomers polymerise, forming a tough film.