The thematic field of Production addresses applications of UV LEDs in the crosslinking
(curing) of UV-reactive polymers. As part of this, numerous applications are addressed, such as coatings, lacquers, inks, adhesives, photoresists and fiber-reinforced composites, for which UV light has already been in use for decades. Up until now, however, this UV light has been produced mostly using energy-intensive mercury vapor lamps.

The use of UV LEDs offers a number of advantages over classical mercury vapor lamps in the curing of UV-reactive resins and photopolymers. Hence, new applications for UV LEDs are opened up, for example in lightweight construction, the on-site repair of lightweight components, as well as large-area photolithographic exposure units.

On the one hand, the thematic field of Production focuses on the adaption of UV-reactive resin formulations to the light source. On the other hand, the specifications of the UV LEDs and the corresponding process parameters are optimized for the specific application.

Research and development projects:
 

»Systematic investigations of curing and optimization of resin fomulations by means of UV LED based modules and of application of resins in different production fields

»Innovative UV LED curable polymers for coating of glass fibers used in medicine and material processing

»UV LED curable composites for lightweight applications

»Optimization and enhancement of digital UV LED based printing

»UV curing in printing and coating roll-to-roll processes and for the production of lightweight core materials