Page 68 - 00. Complete Version - Progress Report IPEN 2014-2016

68 Application of Ionizing Radiations | Progress Report

reactive monomers that remain in the cured
product, providing no VOC, and the film for-
mation occurs at room temperature. Howev-
er, the cured products are insoluble and in-
fusible, increasing the degree of complexity
for reprocessing, recycling and / or (bio) deg-
radation. Thus, this project evaluated coating
films cured by UV / EB and its mixtures with
pro-degrading agents, on a polymer substrate
by means of its thermal, mechanical, rheolog-
ical and morphological characteristics.

Reduction of environmental impact
generated by UV/EB radiation-cured
print inks coatings on post-consuming
biodegradable plastic packaging

The high level of pollution generated by the
inadequate disposal of polymeric materials
has motivated the search for environmentally
Figure 35.Preparation of polymeric coating for friendly systems and techniques such as the
EB curing under inert N2 atmosphere.
application of biodegradable polymers and the
replacement of the solvent-based paint sys-
The search for environmentally friend materi- tems by those with high solids content, based
als is becoming the major focus of research at water or cured by UV or EB radiation practi-
the twenty-first century, considering the high cally free of volatile organic compounds, VOC.
level of pollution generated by the inadequate However, the cured polymer coatings are nei-
disposal of materials, especially polymers, in ther soluble nor molten, increasing the com-
the environment. In addition, environmental plexity of the reprocessing, recycling and deg-
legislation already in course in many coun- radation. Thus, this work aimed to develop
tries limits the emission of volatile organic print inks modified with pro-degrading agents,
compounds (VOC) in the atmosphere, affect- cured by ultraviolet radiation or electron beam,
ing mainly the paint manufacturers who are for printing or decoration in plastic packag-
seeking for alternatives by replacing the paint ing products of short lifetime, which are bio-
solvent for those with high solids. Thus, the degradable or not. Six coatings (varnish and
technology of curing polymer coatings by radi- inks in five colors: yellow, blue, white, black
ation is based on the interaction of the chem- and red), three pro-degrading agents (cobalt
ical system to the ultraviolet (UV) or electron stearate, cerium stearate and manganese stea-
beam (EB) incident radiation, forming reac- rate), five polymeric substrates (Ecobras®, low
tive species capable of inducing the polym- density polyethylene and its respective modi-
erization reactions and cross-linking, result- fications with pro-degrading agents). The coat-
ing in formation of the cured product. In this ings were applied to the substrates and cured
technology, the solvents used to reduce the vis- by ultraviolet radiation or electron beam, re-
cosity of the formulations are replaced with sulting in 180 samples. These materials were

Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares