The theme for the recent Radtech Conference in Niagara Falls, NY focused on the future of energy curable (i.e. UV/EB) technologies and the role they will play in making manufacturing more sustainable and reducing the world's reliance on fossil fuels.  While there are a wide range of potential applications for energy curables, a few are gaining more attention as having the potential to address manufacturing challenges in the near term.

 1.  Industrial Metal Coatings:  UV and EB curing technologies are well established for food package and commercial printing applications.  These technologies are energy efficient, pollution free alternatives to solvent based thermal curing technologies.  Industrial metal coating for automotive, packaging, and appliance manufacturing still typically rely on thermal based curing systems.  With the advancement of energy curable formulations and the development of new curing system designs, metal coaters are beginning to consider UV or EB for new lines or retrofits.

2.  Energy Curable Composites for Wind Turbine Blades:  With the race to increase manufacturing capacity of wind power technologies and the introduction of smaller, less expensive wind technologies, the curing of composites used for turbine blades is becoming a manufacturing bottle neck.  Energy curable composites deliver high performance and cure much faster than traditional approaches.  Novel implementations of energy curing for repair of blades in the field and for high speed manufacturing are being developed.

3.  Printed Photovoltaics: With photovoltaics evolving from rigid technologies produced in discrete batches to flexible technologies produced in a roll to roll printing process, UV and EB offer a high speed, high performance curing solution for conductive layers, protective coatings, and laminate adhesives.

Recognizing the potential for energy curable technologies, The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) announced a program with $2M funding for the development and deployment of UV and EB technologies.  AEB is evaluating proposals from New York universities and companies for electron beam research and deployment projects.  For more information, click here.