Photochemical Curing of Surface Coatings

It is often necessary to protect a metal surface against corrosion by covering it with a thin coat of an organic material. This is deposited in the form of a more or less viscous liquid which must then be solidified. This is known as curing. It can be done simply by evaporation of the solvent when a viscous solution is used, but in many cases this solidification process can be initiated by the action of UV light. 

Photochemical curing has found many industrial applications, not only for the protection of metal surfaces but also for printing and decoration on a variety of materials. It should be added that optical and mechanical properties of surfaces can also be modified by the coating, for example a porous material can be made impermeable by the thin coat of solid organic substance. 

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