Another factor is the deregulation of selected solvents which would allow for viscosity reduction with no penalty of adding VOCs. These materials are new, but represent another forward step in monitoring VOC emissions. The coatings' solid portion is lowered for application with mainly water instead of solvent. However, as new raw materials become available, steady growth in this area can be expected. When working with radiation-curable coatings, another area of importance is in process and application parameters.
Radiation curing on plastic parts is done primarily with UV energy and offers many advantages.
Coating temperatures must be below 200 degrees F, which is where some coating constituents may volatilize. When analyzing the cost of a process environment, especially energy costs, the results may be justified enough to support utilization of UV coatings. Studies showing the energy required for a complete UV-curing line is less than the energy required for the drive motors on a thermal oven, which is another supporting factor that UV curing is a great energy saver. Vacuum metallizing systems typically are interesting sandwiches of organic coatings and metallic films. For complex designs such as in automotive applications systems, many layers in the system exist.