THE CHEMISTRY AND APPLICATIONS OF UV-CURED ADHESIVES

UV curable adhesives represent one of the fastest growing sectors of t he Structural Adhesives market. Currently they account for only small volumes of sales, but growth rates are estimated at 15-20% per annum. These high growth rates reflect growing awareness of the advantages th at UV cure can offer over conventional methods of cure, particularly l ow energy costs and environmental benefits arising from reduced solven t emissions. Typical UV formulations are based on the familiar free ra dical polymerisation of acrylate monomers and cationic polymerisation of epoxy resins. All may be formulated to give a particular speed of c ure, depth of cure, viscosity or thixotropy depending on the substrate and application. The potential of UV cure adhesives can be extended e ven further by combining a UV curing mechanism with other adhesive tec hnologies, these ''dual cure'' systems offer many processing advantage s over conventional adhesives and also offer exciting opportunities fo r potential industrial outlets. In this paper the benefits of UV curin g adhesives are illustrated by considering the introduction of UV curi ng technology to high temperature adhesives, plastic laminating and ot her industrial applications.