ARTICLE
The choice of UV light source, is LED omnipotent?
2021-09-16
The industrial use of UV curing technology probably started in the early 1960s when German wood companies used UV curing materials to coat the wood surface with a hard-painted coating.
The first use of UV lithography in the world was the successful use of the United States and the United Kingdom in 1970.
The development of UV curing has become a very important printing technology.
Generally speaking, UV curing technology is to irradiate chemical substances with UV light source, and the "Photoinitiator" contained in the chemical substances is excited by the UV light source, which can make "polymerization monomers" in a very short time. (Polymer)" produces a glue curing reaction.
Figure 1: Common photoinitiator reaction spectrum
In the beginning, the UV light sources of UV curing technology were mainly mercury lamps (Mercury), and the status of mercury lamps has always been in a position that cannot be replaced.
However, since 1993, when the blue LED technology was invented by Dr. Shuji Nakamura of Nichia Chemicals, the spectrum of LEDs has rapidly developed from blue to the realm of ultraviolet light, and people have begun to think about the possibility of replacing mercury lamps with UV LEDs.
In addition, mercury has caused serious water pollution in Japan and caused people to suffer from Minamata disease. Therefore, the Minamata Convention has been formulated to strongly restrict the application and development of mercury. At the same time, it seems that UV LED has become an extremely important replacement product.
In recent years, UV LED has indeed made great progress in luminous efficiency, from a few% conversion efficiency to the current level of about 40%.
Let people arouse a very big hope, and let users do their best to hope that UV LED can quickly replace the position of mercury lamp.
However, things are not as simple as we thought.
UV LEDs can indeed provide energy-saving UV light sources for colleges and universities in the UVA band, but the spectrum provided by UVLEDs is still mainly between 365nm and 405nm.
The development of photoinitiators on the market has been developed for decades. Following the steps of mercury lamps, the photoinitiators have been optimized and improved step by step to the current situation.
Therefore, almost all photoinitiators on the market are developed with mercury lamps as the light source used in their experiments.
Therefore, the reaction wavelength of the photoinitiator will not be limited to between 365nm~405nm, more often need a wavelength between 320nm~365nm, or even a wavelength between 200nm~320nm, these are all It is a wave band that UV LEDs cannot effectively provide so far, so there is a necessity for mercury lamps.
Although the Minamata Convention strongly restricts the mining and application of mercury, it is still afraid to implement it immediately in industrial applications, because once it is implemented blindly, more than half of the printing or coating industries may be shut down immediately.
How to choose whether to use UV LED or mercury lamp?
Regarding whether UV LEDs can be used to replace mercury lamps, two important factors can be considered.
One is whether it has the economic benefits of replacement, and the other is whether the product can achieve the same effect as the original mercury lamp manufacturing process.
Under the same accumulated energy, UV LED can achieve the same quality as mercury lamp. Congratulations, UV LED is definitely your best option. However, the probability that you can encounter this is less than 10%, so it is extremely difficult to encounter.
After increasing the dose of UV LED to achieve the same quality as the mercury lamp, it is necessary to consider whether the economic benefit meets the need for replacement, and provide users with a reference basis based on years of experience in superhertz. If the dose required by the UV LED Curing can be completed in 2~3 times the situation.
The original mercury lamp requires 1000mJ/cm2, while the UV LED can achieve the purpose of curing at 2000~3000mJ/cm2. At this time, there is room for further evaluation. Use UV LEDs to replace mercury lamps.
However, if the required dose is more than 3 times, even if the UV LED is replaced, it will not bring energy-saving benefits, it is purely to satisfy the spiritual energy-saving.
If you use UV LED and the material cannot achieve the same quality as the mercury lamp, there is no need to replace it at all.
Truster assists customers to provide the best UV curing solutions from the perspective of light.
Assist customers in analyzing which type of light source is the best choice for customers from a fully customized perspective.
Truster has a dedicated "light laboratory", which can provide customers with the best solution and will not let customers spend wronged money.Also in line with our purpose "We focus on solving your problems".
If you have any needs, please contact us immediately
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The first use of UV lithography in the world was the successful use of the United States and the United Kingdom in 1970.
The development of UV curing has become a very important printing technology.
Generally speaking, UV curing technology is to irradiate chemical substances with UV light source, and the "Photoinitiator" contained in the chemical substances is excited by the UV light source, which can make "polymerization monomers" in a very short time. (Polymer)" produces a glue curing reaction.
Figure 1: Common photoinitiator reaction spectrum
In the beginning, the UV light sources of UV curing technology were mainly mercury lamps (Mercury), and the status of mercury lamps has always been in a position that cannot be replaced.
However, since 1993, when the blue LED technology was invented by Dr. Shuji Nakamura of Nichia Chemicals, the spectrum of LEDs has rapidly developed from blue to the realm of ultraviolet light, and people have begun to think about the possibility of replacing mercury lamps with UV LEDs.
In addition, mercury has caused serious water pollution in Japan and caused people to suffer from Minamata disease. Therefore, the Minamata Convention has been formulated to strongly restrict the application and development of mercury. At the same time, it seems that UV LED has become an extremely important replacement product.
Figure 2: Luminous spectrum of standard mercury lamp
Figure 2: Luminous spectrum of standard mercury lampFigure 2: Luminous spectrum of standard mercury lamp
In recent years, UV LED has indeed made great progress in luminous efficiency, from a few% conversion efficiency to the current level of about 40%.
Let people arouse a very big hope, and let users do their best to hope that UV LED can quickly replace the position of mercury lamp.
However, things are not as simple as we thought.
UV LEDs can indeed provide energy-saving UV light sources for colleges and universities in the UVA band, but the spectrum provided by UVLEDs is still mainly between 365nm and 405nm.
The development of photoinitiators on the market has been developed for decades. Following the steps of mercury lamps, the photoinitiators have been optimized and improved step by step to the current situation.
Therefore, almost all photoinitiators on the market are developed with mercury lamps as the light source used in their experiments.
Therefore, the reaction wavelength of the photoinitiator will not be limited to between 365nm~405nm, more often need a wavelength between 320nm~365nm, or even a wavelength between 200nm~320nm, these are all It is a wave band that UV LEDs cannot effectively provide so far, so there is a necessity for mercury lamps.
Although the Minamata Convention strongly restricts the mining and application of mercury, it is still afraid to implement it immediately in industrial applications, because once it is implemented blindly, more than half of the printing or coating industries may be shut down immediately.
How to choose whether to use UV LED or mercury lamp?
Regarding whether UV LEDs can be used to replace mercury lamps, two important factors can be considered.
One is whether it has the economic benefits of replacement, and the other is whether the product can achieve the same effect as the original mercury lamp manufacturing process.
Under the same accumulated energy, UV LED can achieve the same quality as mercury lamp. Congratulations, UV LED is definitely your best option. However, the probability that you can encounter this is less than 10%, so it is extremely difficult to encounter.
After increasing the dose of UV LED to achieve the same quality as the mercury lamp, it is necessary to consider whether the economic benefit meets the need for replacement, and provide users with a reference basis based on years of experience in superhertz. If the dose required by the UV LED Curing can be completed in 2~3 times the situation.
The original mercury lamp requires 1000mJ/cm2, while the UV LED can achieve the purpose of curing at 2000~3000mJ/cm2. At this time, there is room for further evaluation. Use UV LEDs to replace mercury lamps.
However, if the required dose is more than 3 times, even if the UV LED is replaced, it will not bring energy-saving benefits, it is purely to satisfy the spiritual energy-saving.
If you use UV LED and the material cannot achieve the same quality as the mercury lamp, there is no need to replace it at all.
Truster assists customers to provide the best UV curing solutions from the perspective of light.
Assist customers in analyzing which type of light source is the best choice for customers from a fully customized perspective.
Truster has a dedicated "light laboratory", which can provide customers with the best solution and will not let customers spend wronged money.Also in line with our purpose "We focus on solving your problems".
If you have any needs, please contact us immediately