Printing industry turns to UV LED curing, dual-curing inks drive development
2023-08-17
With the improvement of environmental awareness and the continuous advancement of technology, the printing industry is undergoing a major change, shifting the traditional mercury-based UV curing technology to a more environmentally friendly and sustainable UV LED curing technology. As an important driving force for this change, dual-curing inks are growing rapidly.
Traditional mercury-based UV curing technology has been widely used in the printing industry in the past few decades, but it has a series of problems, such as environmental pollution, high energy consumption, high operating costs and potential safety hazards. Therefore, more environmentally friendly and cost-effective curing technology has become the goal pursued by the industry.
UV LED curing technology came into being, which uses LED light sources to replace traditional fluorescent light sources, with lower energy consumption, longer life and more stable working performance. The UV LED curing system eliminates preheating time and enables instant switching and precise control, which greatly improves production efficiency and print quality.
However, in the promotion process of UV LED curing technology, there are also some challenges. One of them is the instability of the curing effect. In order to solve this problem, dual-curing inks came into being. Dual-curing inks combine the advantages of both UV LED curing and thermal curing technologies. Under the irradiation of a UV LED light source, the dual-curing ink can cure quickly, and in the subsequent thermal curing process, the firmness and durability of the ink are further ensured.
The development of double-curing ink has brought many opportunities to the printing industry. First, it reduces the production cost of printing enterprises. Compared with the traditional single-curing technology, double-curing ink not only reduces the energy consumption, but also improves the utilization rate of equipment, thereby reducing the production cost. Secondly, double-curing ink provides a wider field application. Due to the flexibility of double-curing ink in curing mechanism, it can be applied to a variety of materials and printing processes to meet the needs of customers for different product quality and effect. In addition, double-curing ink also improves the durability of printed matter and improves its scratch resistance, water resistance and light resistance.
At present, more and more dual-curing flexo inks are emerging in the market, and this trend shows that dual-curing technology has broad prospects in the printing industry. Many advanced printing equipment manufacturers have also launched printers that support UV LED curing to meet the needs of the market.
However, the promotion of UV LED curing and dual curing inks still faces some challenges. The first is that the equipment cost is high, and there may be a certain threshold for some small and medium-sized printing companies. The second is the formulation of industry standards and specifications, which require detailed agreements in terms of technology, safety and environmental protection to ensure the sustainable development of the industry.
In general, the printing industry is actively turning to UV LED curing technology, and has achieved a double breakthrough in technology and environmental protection through the promotion of dual-curing inks. With the continuous development of technology and market, UV LED curing and dual-curing inks will bring a broader development space for the printing industry and provide consumers with higher quality and more environmentally friendlyprinting products.