Industrial Application of Photopolymers

Large-scale integrated (LSI) circuits are typical examples of the application of photopolymers. Various electronic microdevices are produced by lithography of photopolymers. Photopolymers are applied widely in various fields, such as electronics, optical engineering, medical treatments, and painting and printing industries. 

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Printing Materials. The application of photopolymer technology to a wide variety of imaging applications in the printing industry is a quite important. Most printing plates and pre-press proofing products used today are based on, or utilize some element of, photopolymer chemistry. 

Other Printing Applications. There are a number of lower volume applications of photopolymer chemistry to the printing industry. Some of these include the production of tactile images (raised Braille patterns) (47) and screen stencil resists... 

In another commercial application of free-radical polymerization, polymerizations may be carried out in industrial coatings in the presence of air to yield a variety of coatings and structures of commercial import. This development is possible. In part, because certain vinyl monomers, particularly the acrylates, are less sensitive to retardation by oxygen compared with other monomers. It is therefore possible to produce radiation-cured coatings. UV-cured printing inks and the photopolymers are important in imaging for printing, photoresist, and related applications. 

STR 14] Strehmel B., Ernst S., Reiner K. et al, Application of NIR-photopolymers in the graphic industry from physical chemistry to hthographic apphcations , Zeitschrift fur Physikalische Chemie, vol. 228, pp. 129-153, 2014. 

Applications of industrial photopolymer technology can be divided into two general classifications based on the exposure mode of the applied radiation. 

This paper will illustrate how photopolymer technology has helped to revolutionize two industries, printing and publishing, and the manufacture of electronic circuits and devices. Several new, developing applications will be described as well. 

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