Excimer Laser Curing Of Polymer Coatings

David Klick; M. Alfred Akerman; George L. Paul; Darko Supurovic; Haruki Tsuda

doi:10.1117/12.960216

16 December 1988 Excimer Laser Curing Of Polymer Coatings

David Klick, M. Alfred Akerman, George L. Paul, Darko Supurovic, Haruki Tsuda

Proceedings Volume 0998, Excimer Beam Applications; (1988) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.960216
Event: O-E/Fiber LASE '88, 1988, Boston, MA, United States

Abstract

The use of the excimer laser as a source of energy for photo-assisted curing of industrial polymeric coatings was investigated. Presently, UV lamps are sometimes used to excite a photoinitiating molecule mixed with the starting monomers and oligomers of a coating. The resulting polymeric chain reaction multiplies the effect of the initial photons, making economical use of the light source. The high cost of laser photons may thus be justifiable if lasers provide advantages over lamps. A series of visibly transparent 7 μm coatings (a typical thickness for 'slick' magazine coatings) with various photoinitiators, monomers, and oligomers was illuminated with excimer laser light of various wavelengths, fluences, and pulse repetition rates. For the optimum parameters, it was found that the laser had large advantages in curing speed over existing UV lamp processes, due to its monochromaticity. Pigmented coatings (20 μm TiO₂ mixtures typical of appliance or automotive finishes) are not easily cured with UV lamps due to the inability of light to penetrate the absorbing and scattering pigmented layer. However, economically-viable cure rates were achieved with certain photoinitiators using a tunable excimer-pumped dye laser. A prototype of such a laser suitable for factory use was built and used to cure these coatings. Results are scaled to a factory situation, and costs are calculated to show the advantages of the laser method over currently used processes.

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David Klick, M. Alfred Akerman, George L. Paul, Darko Supurovic, and Haruki Tsuda "Excimer Laser Curing Of Polymer Coatings", Proc. SPIE 0998, Excimer Beam Applications, (16 December 1988); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.960216

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