JSR Micro, Kentaro Goto of JSR Micro covered “Review of
Photoresist.” Goto looked at the past, present and future of photoresists, and where UV curing plays a role.
Mark Tilley of Unidym covered “How Printable Transparent
Conductors will Enable Roll-to-Roll Processing of Visual Displays.” Unidym manufactures carbon nanotube-based inks and
films for touch screens, eReaders, LCDs, OLEDs, LEDs and PV,
and uses gravure and slot die processes. The company also occasionally uses UV topcoat.
“We are really excited about flexible displays,” Tilley noted.
Rainer Neeff of EMD Chemicals discussed “Merck’s Reactive
Liquid Crystal Materials for Brightness Enhancement Films &
Optically Anisotropic Patterned Retarders.” Neeff noted that Reactive Mesogens (RM) are liquid crystalline materials that can be
permanently fixed in the liquid crystal phase by polymerization,
and can be tailored for UV curing.
Session Four, moderated by Michael Kelly of Allied Photo-
Chemical, Inc., covered Coatings - Assembly, Final Products.”
Richardson led off with his talk on “Disconnects in the Supply
Chain.” Mikyong Yoo of Artificial Muscle followed with “UV
Cured Materials for EAP Actuators.”
Acquired by Bayer MaterialScience in 2010, Artificial Muscle
has developed electroactive polymers (EAP), which provide hap-
tic feel to electronic systems such as touch screens.
“Our Baysol Reflex EAP actuator consists of functional layers that are screen printed, which is the most cost-competitive
volume manufacturing. There are 17 layers, and UV curing is
used on some processes, thermal curing on others,” Yoo noted.
“UV reduces the thermal load and protects hat sensitive films. It
offers high line speed and reduced manufacturing time, and reduces manufacturing space compared to a thermal oven. There
are also energy savings and longer pot life.
Roger Cayton of Nanophase Technologies Corporation covered
“Nano- and Sub-Micron Alumina for Scratch Resistant Coatings.”
“Highly concentrated dispersions of alumina nanoparticles,
ranging from 20 to 800 nm, can be prepared directly in acrylate
monomer,” Cayton said. “The dispersions are stable and com-
patible with UV-cured coating formulations. A combination of
nanoparticle expertise and application knowledge allows a step-
changing performance in UV-cured coatings to be realized.”
“Creating Success – From R&D to Commercialization, a Ma-
chine Builder’s Perspective,” presented by Adam Zielenski of Con-
Quip, Inc., closed the session by noting the growth of UV curing
in flexible forms. Zielenski also discussed methods for applying
UV coatings, including slot die coating, gravure and roll coating.
PE, PV and UV/EB
The March 9 session featured morning talks centered around
printed electronics, the solar market and UV/EB’s capabilities.
Raghu Das, CEO of IDTechEx, analyzed “Printed Electronics”
in his keynote talk, discussing key markets such as OLEDs, PV,
transistors, sensors, lighting and more. One key point Das made
was that printing adds value, such as in cost, the ability to produce large area electronics such as LCD billboard displays and
compatibility with low cost flexible substrates.
“Printed electronics will tackle many needs,” Das said. “It will
make hundreds of billions of disposable circuits possible. Printed
electronics is applicable to large area form factors, particularly
relevant to displays, photovoltaics and large sensor arrays. It is
applicable to creating very simple devices with few transistors
that need to be made in high volumes, and enables new form factors thanks to new substrates being used with electronics for the
first time.
“UV’s opportunity is its ability to enable the big markets by
being compatible with low cost flexible substrates,” Das added.
“Adhesives, protective coatings, barrier films and active layers,
e.g., conductive transparent layers and even semiconductors
could be UV cured.”
Jason Eckstein of Lux Research, Inc. followed with “Chal-
lenges and Opportunities for Materials Developers in the Solar
Market.” He provided an overview of the solar market, focusing
on the growth of thin film technologies.
UV/EB was the topic of next talk, as David Harbourne of Fusion UV Systems, Inc. presented “UV/EB Curing: The Current
Status & Future Opportunities,” an overview of the North American market. Harbourne noted that UV and EB are growing at 1
9 percent annual rate, and sees opportunities in flexible electronics markets such as rollable digital readers, flat panel displays, wearable displays and flexible memory chips. Richardson
then discussed “How to Truly Calculate the Cost of a Coating.”
UV/EB equipment was the focus of the final two talks. Dr.
Stephen Lapin of PCT Engineered Systems discussed “
Introduction to UV/EB Equipment Selection,” a comparison between
UV and EB.
“UV and EB are complementary, not competing technolo-
gies,” Dr. Lapin said. “Selection of UV or EB should be based on
the best fit for the process and application.”
Jim Raymont of EIT Instrument Markets covered “Control-
ling The UV Process: Measurement & Monitoring Options.”
“Understand the capabilities and limitations of Your Instru-
ment and measurement strategy,” Raymont noted. ‘Waiting to
monitor/measure UV until after you have a problem is guaran-
teed to cost you time and money.”
The conference closed with a UV/EBChemistry Short
Course, an introductory course to the basic chemistry of UV/EB
curable formulations.
Rad Tech’s leaders and the conference’s organizers were very
happy with the conference and the attendance, which far exceeded their expectations both in terms of number of people as
well as new attendees.
“This program shows that there is a lot of interest in our tech-
nology,” Harbourne said. “Thee were a lot of people here who
we haven’t seen before at our conferences. When I arrived at reg-
istration, I recognized few names and even fewer companies. We
did about double of what we expected. We found the attendees
had much interest in the presentations.”
“This has been outstanding,” Idacavage said. “It far exceeded
our expectations in attendance. We had a large number of peo-
ple come to Rad Tech for the first time, which shows that UV and
EB can be an enabling tool for electronics.” CW
www.coatingsworld.com
April 2011
