UV curing technology – SCHLENK

many benefits have been described for the new UV curing technology with LED lamps, but what are the main advantages over traditional UV curing? The first obstacle that we encounter is the price, the LED lamp cost almost twice as much as a traditional UV lamp, but have a much longer lifetime (over 20,000 hours), and represent a significant energy saving, since traditional UV lamps produce heat above 300°C (due to the wide spectral range that reaches the IR (infra red) heat), while traditional UV lamps produce heat above 300°C (due to the wide spectral range that reaches the IR (infra red) heat), while traditional UV lamps LED operate at lower temperatures, which allows printing on different substrates. The initial investment price difference can be offset by use over time.

Another advantage is that LED curing does not require cooling equipment or ozone extraction (because the wavelength of light produced by the LED is not in the 280nm or less range, this means that no ozone is produced by these lamps). And while both technologies are VOC– free, because they have no evaporating solvents, LED lamps do not contain mercury.

On the downside, the output wavelength of LED technology is limited compared to traditional UV lamps, as well as the supply of raw materials that can be used for LED-UV is limited, and they tend to be more expensive, so companies such as SCHLENK, which is committed to this new technology, has launched a range of metallic finished inks in silver and bronze tones for flexographic printing by LED curing, which is having great acceptance in the market.