AkzoNobel brings global energy-curing expertise to China’s coil-coating industry
AkzoNobel experts share expertise on energy curing in Coating Technology (Japan) article
Technical article examines how UV and EB curing can support the decarbonization of coil coatings and enable more flexible gloss control.
Titled “Decarbonization of Coil Coatings – Gloss Control as a Tool to Uncover the Subtleties and Potential of Energy Curing,” the article was published in the Spring–Summer 2026 issue of Coating Technology Japan.
AkzoNobel experts examine ultraviolet (UV) and electron beam (EB) curing as technologies that can support the electrification and decarbonization of coil coating processes.
The article uses gloss management as a practical lens for exploring energy curing. It examines how oxygen affects UV and EB curing, including ways to mitigate oxygen inhibition and circumstances in which it can be exploited to adjust gloss. It also covers dual-cure systems, curing through laminate films, and the different ways UV light sources and EB curing units can be used.
Exploring different routes to gloss control
The article reviews several approaches to controlling the gloss of energy-curable coatings to demonstrate the range of effects that can be achieved:
• Conventional matting agents that scatter light at the coating surface
• Dual-cure processes that use an initial partial-cure step to create controlled surface wrinkling, followed by complete curing with UV or EB radiation
• Excimer UV combined with EB curing, including examples of ultra-matte finishes and gloss adjustment without matting agents
• Laminate-film curing, in which the coating is cured through the film to reproduce a designed surface pattern and largely avoid the negative effects of oxygen inhibition.
Energy curing for future and existing lines
The article explains that UV and EB curing are complementary and may be applied individually or together to control curing throughout the coating thickness. Energy curable coil coatings use reactive formulations activated by controllable energy sources to achieve rapid crosslinking.
The article highlights potential benefits including:
• Electrification and decarbonization of the coil coating process
• Significant energy savings under tested conditions
• Elimination of solvents
• High-speed processing and compact equipment for new lines
• Efficient production run changeovers, supported by the ability to switch the line on and off quickly
• Potential materials-waste reduction.
Energy curing technology can also be integrated into existing lines, for example through a bypass configuration. The range of UV sources - from arc and modified arc lamps to LEDs and excimer systems – supports different line configurations, manufacturing solutions, and curing methods.
The article was written by Sebastien Villeneuve of AkzoNobel Coil Coatings Europe; Kayla Williams-Pavlantos and Carly Greer of the AkzoNobel Strongsville Technology Center, US; and Takahiro Tsujita and Katsuhiko Ohsawa of AkzoNobel Coatings K.K.
The article is available in the Spring-Summer issue of Coating Technology - https://coat-tecstore.com/library/tosougijutu2026spring_summer/