Application of UV Cure Technology and Progress in Photopolymerization in China

By Fu Zhan, Wenfang Shi

The development of the coating industry is an important symbol of a country’s industrial level. As concern about the environment increases, the coating industry is facing tremendous challenges.

The market share of con­ventional solvent-based coatings has been reduced rapidly because of ongo­ing legislation to cut VOC emissions. In contrast, radiation curing, including ultraviolet (UV) and electron beam (EB) curing technology, is now being in­creasingly used in various application sectors because it is a clean and green technology that increases productivity as compared with other traditional curing methods.

Institutions and companies in China have been researching applications of UV/EB cure technology since the 1990s. While the market share of radia­tion-curable products is still small compared to that of the U.S., Europe, and Japan, the technology has been greatly expanded over the past 10 years, and is growing along with the Chinese economy.