Eve Liu, Project Lead R&D Coil at AkzoNobel, shared insights into UV and electron beam curing at the 27th China Radiation Curing Annual Conference in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China.
AkzoNobel brings global energy-curing expertise to China’s coil-coating industry
Eve Liu, Project Lead R&D Coil at AkzoNobel, shared insights into UV and electron beam curing at the 27th China Radiation Curing Annual Conference in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China.
Held from 12 to 14 August, this major industry conference, also known as RadTech China 2026, is considered one of the country's key gatherings for researchers, manufacturers, suppliers, and technology developers in the UV and electron beam (EB) curing industry. It brought together equipment suppliers and end users to exchange knowledge and discuss the future of radiation-curing technologies in coil coating. It also reflected the importance of sharing insights across the industry as manufacturers work towards more efficient and sustainable production.
The conference is organized by the Radiation Curing Professional Committee of the Chinese Society for Imaging Science and Technology and supported by universities, research institutions, and leading chemical and materials companies. The theme at this year’s event was focused on technology leadership, green integration and empowering the future. At the heart of the discussion was a clear message: the coil-coating industry is being rewritten and reshaped by the disruptive power and benefits of renewable energy curing.
Exploring the next generation of coil coating
AkzoNobel’s presentation, delivered by Eve Liu, focused on two connected priorities: addressing the limitations of traditional coil coating and simplifying the process through innovation.
Traditional coil-coating lines often rely on long ovens, consume significant amounts of natural gas and generate VOC emissions. They can also be difficult to start and stop quickly, making it harder to respond efficiently to small-batch and multi-variant production requirements. This process is well established and proven but UV and EB curing offers a different route. The curing process takes place at ambient temperature using electrically powered equipment, helping reduce energy demand. High-solid and solvent-free formulations can significantly reduce VOC output, supporting improved environmental performance.
The speed of energy curing also creates greater production flexibility. With curing taking place in milliseconds, lines can start and stop almost instantly. This can support more agile production, including shorter runs and a wider range of product variants.
By simplifying the coating workflow, this approach can help make next-generation coil coating easier to adopt in real production environments and support cost-efficiency gains.
Eve’s presentation also included technical details on energy curing, how the technology works from coil coating to curing, reflecting the depth of expertise behind these developing solutions.
Sharing knowledge to support industry transformation
The conference provided an opportunity for equipment suppliers, end users and coating specialists to share perspectives on how energy-curing technologies can be applied in practice. Collaboration across the value chain will be important as the industry explores ways to reduce energy use, lower emissions and improve production flexibility.
This broader need for collaboration is also reflected in the IONOMY™ ecosystem, a global not-for-profit consortium led by AkzoNobel and powered by expert partners across coatings, curing, engineering and integration. IONOMY is designed to help steel manufacturers and coaters explore practical and commercially viable routes to renewable energy curing.
By sharing knowledge globally and collaborating locally, AkzoNobel is helping support the coil-coating industry unlock the opportunity ahead. To learn more about AkzoNobel’s work in renewable energy curing and the IONOMY ecosystem, contact your local AkzoNobel team. For information on the conference, visit: www.radtechchina.com