Light the Way

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have been broadly adopted in the general lighting market, and now in the ultraviolet (UV) space, due to their many benefits – from their long life to lower power consumption and improved environmental footprint. The rate of commercial adoption has been positively affected by improved pricing, performance, and support from formulators of adhesives, coatings, and inks.

The use of UV LEDs has generated new print opportunities, performance advantages, and productivity enhancements, helping manufacturers to differentiate their applications and further driving acceptance and successful integrations of LEDs onto printer platforms.

Compared to traditional lamp solutions, UV LEDs bring enormous benefits to printing processes. Adoption of UV LED curing onto print platforms will continue to increase and will further progress from inkjet and narrow web to screen, flexo and wide web. Constant improvements in UV LED technology and materials formulation will continue to enhance output and performance supporting faster print speeds, and costs will become more competitive to make larger scale printers even more economical.

Excelitas’ Pamela Lee explores the benefits of UV LED and discusses how best to utilize the technology in print applications. Read our “Light the Way” article starting on page 2 in the 2020 Issue 1 of Specialist Printing Worldwide Magazine. Download a pdf copy below or view it online at Specialist Printing Worldwide.

https://www.specialistprinting.com/digital-issue-1