benefits as you replace typical thermal ovens with a light source.
The most cited benefit on converting over from thermal to light
or EB cured formulations is productivity. The typical light cured
coating can go from a liquid to a fully cured solid in a few seconds or less as compared to an oven cure, which might take
minutes or hours. In general, this will allow a converter to
greatly increase the line speed of the coating line as the desired
coating will be fully cured and ready to be packaged almost immediately. Another benefit of radiation curable coatings is that
in many cases, there is considerable less energy required to cure
the coating. With no need for lengthy thermal ovens and their
required heating sources, the use of a small UV lamp as the energy source for curing results in clear energy savings. Another frequent advantage of radiation curing can be found in a common
difference between a thermal coating formulation and a radiation curable coating formulation. Typical thermal formulations
contain solvent that needs to be removed by the ovens before a
sold coating is formed. Depending on the coating requirements,
a radiation curable coating will be formulated at 100%, thus
eliminating the need to remove solvents and handle that waste
stream. Finally, a benefit that sometimes gets overlooked is the
ability of a radiation curable coating to result in a coating that
has unique properties that are difficult to achieve otherwise.
CW: In what areas are radiation curable coatings already well
established?
Idacavage: The use of radiation curable coatings has really
expanded since their first introduction in the 1970s. In some
applications, they are now the dominant technology for the
benefits and advantages that I mentioned earlier. Some of the
industries that commonly use radiation curable technology are
in wood coatings, automotive headlight coatings, overprint var-
nishes, photopolymer printing plates, etc. There are even indus-
tries that have been created due to the use of radiation curable
technology. One that comes to mind is the use of UV curable
coatings to manufacture fiber optic cables. It is the combination
of the benefits mentioned earlier that allow this key piece of
modern technology to become practical.
CW: Are there any untapped markets that you think radiation
curable coatings could penetrate?
Idacavage: Currently, the vast majority of coatings are created
through traditional thermally cured technology. I believe that
radiation curable applications are at best only a few percent
of the total coatings market. While this is a very large num-
ber when it comes to pounds of radiation curable formulation
used or square feet coated, this still leaves a massive amount
of opportunities waiting to be converted. While many of the
applications that currently use thermal curing will not move to
radiation curing due to economic or practical considerations,
that still leaves a lot of untapped possibilities. Applications
that require improved productivity or face restrictions due to
environmental regulations would benefit from looking closely
at radiation curable technology. I also believe that the ability
