Surface pretreatment of polymers using UV light

UV irradiation for technical applications is mainly used to cure different coating materials. Practical
experiences have shown us, that there are more applications for UV irradiation other than just curing. There is an interesting number of installations using UV light to activate polymer surfaces, but it seems to be difficult to predict the results or understand the process. This paper will investigate the influence of UV light on the surface of different polymers and assess its viability for use as a surface pre-treatment technique.