Knowledge base

A wide variety of parameters have to be considered when formulating any printing ink. From pigmentdispersion through to press performance and cure response, the emphasis is always on making the ink "print". However there are certain performance factors which whilst not reflecting the actual printability of ink, are considered part of it's press per

In 1991 this writer chaired a study conducted by members of RadTech tnternationalNorth America to assess the markets forUV and EB curable products. The studyinvolved a representative cross section of end users and suppliers of equipment,products and services. This current update has utilized a modified "Delphi" techniquewith the input of over 30 in

In the early days of radiation curing, it was discoveredthat the monomers or reactive diluents have irritantproperties. This sometimes resulted in severe skin- and eye irritation for workers, V especially printers, workingwith these materials. As a result, the labelling of theseproducts (see table I in the next section) was regulatedon-EEC-level in

Because radiation-curing coatings are solvent-free and can be cured in seconds without heat,they represent an important step towards cutting emissions of volatile organic compounds(VOC5) and saving energy. And because most energy is produced by burning fossil fuels thatmeans a cut in 002 emissions too.

New resins for wood coating applications, basedon Maleate/Vinyl ether (MA/VE) combinations,were introduced during the last years1. They showcertain advantages over the existing acrylate basedsystems. Because of their low toxicity, they arenot irritating nor sensitizing and because the systemconsists of only oligomeric materials, and thehereto relat

As known, the fast development during the last decade of high performanceUV-curable systems has induced a growing number of applications in variousindustrial areas 1]. The choice of photoinitiators is partly governed by therequirement of a high curing speed. Improved photoinitiator systems exhibitingincreasingly fast curing speeds or / and increase

The major uses of radiation-curable coatings are printing inks, wood coatings and electroniccomponents, all of which are interior applications. In order to encourage the use of radiationcurablecoatings in outdoor applications, PRA has been involved in a project (50% fundedby UK Government's ETIS initiative and supported by 14 radcure companies) to

 Within the Total Organization, the corporate Research for the Resin Division leads research projectsand studies for all business departments of the Resin Division. In particular to support the PhotocureDepartment represented by Cray Valley in Europe and Sartomer in the USA, this study has beenperformed to establish the potential of molecular