In a historical context purple is considered a noble, sacred and magical colour. Purple is a combination of two opposites: red and blue, the first a warm colour, the second cold.
But the ground-breaking discovery came when it was found that light, which we see as white, is actually made up of a range of colours produced by the various frequencies of electromagnetic radiation; the last high-frequency colour with the shortest wavelength is purple. Or rather, ultraviolet.
Scientists studying the sun discovered ultraviolet light, also called UV, invisible to the naked eye. Thanks to this, as a result of continuous new findings and the relevant applications, we were eventually able to reproduce UV light artificially in a laboratory and improve our living conditions.
In nature we’ve grown accustomed to protecting ourselves from the ultraviolet light produced by the sun, the part that’s not filtered by the ozone layer in the atmosphere.
A few decades ago, science and technology came up with artificial sources that produced ultraviolet light such as UV lamps, commonly used in the disinfection of water, air, food, and to sterilise surgical instruments. UV radiation is a germicide used in sterilisation to prevent microorganisms harmful to man from reproducing.
In more recent times, ultraviolet light has been used in the laboratory with the invention of electromedical devices used to study cells, in forensic medicine to search for clues, stains that would otherwise be invisible; to reveal biological traces and DNA profiles.
In the industrial field on the other hand, UV technology is an excellent example of cross industry innovation, and it’s used to “dry” coatings, paints, inks and adhesives.
In particular, ultraviolet light is widely used in graphic arts, on wood and fibre optics for the photopolymerisation of chemical products.
It’s furthermore commonly used in industries such as:
More recently one might mention the invention of 3D printers. In the automotive industry, for example, car manufacturers can design plastic parts; and send models to rapid prototyping and parts testing from one side of the globe to the other using onsite 3D printers utilizing ultraviolet lamps to quickly dry the printed materials.
Qurtech, thanks to the imagination, creativity and curiosity of the women and men who work there, has been contributing to the technological innovation of UV photopolymerisation for years.
This technology offers some major advantages such as very fast drying, often resulting in a higher quality finished products, also in aesthetic terms; energy efficiency, reduced production line floorspace, very low or zero VOC emissions.
Technologies which are both eco-friendly and efficient.
UV photopolymerisation is a fast-drying curing process used for paints, inks and adhesives: a powerful ultraviolet lamp triggers a photochemical reaction that makes the transition from the liquid to the solid state instantaneously.
UV curing technology, applied to industrial processes, has reduced production times and costs. In fact, compared to previous decades, the chemistry is dried without using big and costly gas or oil-fired ovens.
It is important to emphasise that, thanks to photopolymerisation, much smaller drying ovens can now be implemented, revolutionising production floorspace by adopting more compact production lines; risulting in reduced production costs and increased products performance and quality. Result: a more competitive product.
The benefits of this technology are clear:
Furthermore, the parts produced using the UV curing process are of a higher quality, because the chemistry in its liquid state is exposed for less time to impurities contained in the air. In terms of results this means a significant reduction in both the number of rejects and flaws, as well as a higher quality of the finished parts.
It is quite obvious that it is precisely the drying speed of UV curing that makes it extremely versatile for printing, painting, decoration and assembly.
There are two types: cationic and radical.
The second can be divided into further two categories:
Obviously both types must have specific properties:
