Our world is an ever-changing one as evidenced recently by the appearance of Covid-19, unusual weather, and ever-evolving new technologies and products.
These changes are presenting both opportunities and challenges for UV coatings with their ability to resist attack by chemicals, and various consumer and industrial products.
Currently, we are advised to wear masks, wash our hands often, social distance, and use disinfecting wipes and sprays on items that might harbor harmful pathogens.
UV Coatings Offer Protection
When applied to substrates and objects, UV coatings are the first and most important layer of protection against external attacks from substances and forces encountered.
Important to their adoption, UV coatings also offer a wide range of aesthetic enhancement in the form of finishes that create premium visual and tactile effects. These include high gloss, super-matte, satin, as well as touch and feel, soft touch, and textured haptic surfaces.
UV Coatings Applications
While UV coatings are often selected for their capability to decorate, they are just as likely to be chosen for their ability to satisfy the specific performance required by a particular application. Within the graphic arts industry, there are many applications that utilize UV coatings. Among these are packaging, both rigid and flexible, labeling, magazine & book covers, greeting cards, brochures, menus, placemats, business cards, ID cards, direct mail, etc.
Outside of the graphic arts industry UV coating applications are everywhere, and appear in almost every industry. Included are automotive, aerospace, architecture, appliances, electronics, flooring, plumbing, furniture, eyewear, adhesive, optical fiber, and cable, etc.
High Cross-Linking UV Coatings
Inherently UV coatings, once properly cured, produce a high cross-link density, and exhibit strong physical and chemical resistant properties. Cross-linking is the chemical bonding of polymer chains, linear and branched, into a strongly linked network.
This strength of UV coatings means that they can be formulated to protect a substrate or an object from damage by friction, scuffing, aggressive liquids, and difficult environments during their useful life cycle.
UV coatings have the flexibility to be formulated to resist environmental, chemical, electrical, and physical forces. The chemical structure of a formula’s main components, monomers and oligomers, and some other additives determine physical properties prior to and after curing.
A formulator’s understanding of the chemical structure of UV formulating materials is key to being able to formulate to meet specific UV coatings performance goals. These may include; adhesion, viscosity, reactivity, flexibility, chemical & physical resistance properties, weathering, and cost.
Specific UV Coatings Performance Requirements
Common in Corks’ business are requests for UV coatings that are capable of meeting specific performance requirements. Some of these have stipulated a particular level of product or chemical resistance. In these cases, Cork’s formulators have formulated UV coatings to meet the defined performance requirements.
As a result of its long UV coating product development history, Cork is able to offer a series of products that provide specific product/ chemical resistance.
Some of these are:
- Anti-freeze resistant semi-gloss
- Anti-freeze resistant/[Prestone]
- Chemical resistant/[Drano]
- Fertilizer resistant high-gloss
- Bleach resistant
- Chemical resistant/[Clorox wipes & sprays]
- Chemical resistant/[Lysol wipes & sprays]
- Chemical resistant/[Clorox 409 cleaner]
- Chemical resistant high gloss
- Chemical resistant semi-gloss
- Chemical resistant semi-gloss/Prop 65
- Ajax resistant
- Hand soap resistant
- Grease resistant
- Alcohol resistant
Contact Cork Technical Experts whenever you require a UV coating with a specific product or chemical resistant performance properties for an application.
