Over the years, ultraviolet (UV) and electron beam (EB) technologies have found homes in several manufacturing environments. The graphic arts are an example of an industry where the ability to instantly cure an ink or coating offers benefits to manufacturers.

There are challenges to using energy-curable technologies in the paint and coatings field. One obvious one is the scale needed for using UV. Simply put, for architectural paints, you can’t set up UV lights to cover an entire house. For the automotive, aerospace and marine segments, curing a large three-dimensional item such as a car or a plane poses difficulties.

The good news for UV curing of coatings is that there are segments where the technology works nicely. Coil coatings are the biggest success story. UV coatings for wood have proven to be useful. On smaller automotive refinish jobs like touch-ups, UV’s quick curing is a plus.

One of the keys is to convince end-users of the benefits of UV curing for their products. Beckers Group CTO Gavin Bown observed that the interest in UV for coil coatings has become more practical and data‑driven.

“We see growing traction globally, particularly in industrial coatings, where coil coaters are actively evaluating how to reduce energy intensity, shorten process steps, lower VOC and greenhouse gas emissions, and improve operational efficiency,” Bown pointed out. “In coil coatings specifically, the discussion has shifted from ‘Is it possible?’ to ‘Where does it make industrial sense? – with line integration, performance validation and qualification now taking center stage.”

Bown noted that progress is not uniform across regions, but momentum is building as customers move from exploratory trials to structured evaluation.

“For Beckers, this is not a trend topic – it is a strategic technology platform where we have invested for many years in both R&D capability and the commercialization of coil-relevant UV/EB solutions,” he added.

Michael Stucky, customer sustainability partner, Global Industrial Coatings, PPG, said that interest among coil applicators is growing primarily due to energy-efficiency advantages, low-VOC content and a lower carbon footprint via the elimination of high-temperature, gas-fired curing ovens.

“With energy curing, manufacturers of coil-coated products can expect to lower their processing costs significantly,” Stucky said.

AkzoNobel reports that energy-cured coatings have been steadily gaining traction across the global paints and coatings industry, driven by the need to reduce energy consumption, lower emissions and improve production efficiency. 

“As manufacturers face increasing regulatory pressure and rising energy costs, technologies such as UV and electron beam curing are becoming more attractive alternatives to traditional thermal processes,” Chris Bradford, director of marketing and product management – industrial coatings at AkzoNobel, said. “This comes into sharper focus in light of the ongoing energy market volatility and geopolitical uncertainty, which will no doubt reinforce the need to reduce reliance on fossil fuel-based curing methods. Manufacturers are likely to accelerate transition plans so what may have once been considered niche will move into more mainstream industrial applications. 

“Across the industry, we are also seeing growing interest from customers who are not just looking for new coatings products, but for end-to-end solutions. They want practical ways to implement energy curing in real production environments, and this includes understanding how to redesign their processes for greater sustainability and performance with minimal disruption to their operations,” Bradford pointed out. “In coil coating in particular, where production lines are highly optimized and capital-intensive, this calls for a coordinated approach across coatings, curing technology, and line design. To support this transition, AkzoNobel initiated the IONOMY ecosystem, which is the industry’s first consultancy-led not-for-profit partnership. It brings together a coalition of global specialists to help steelmakers and coil coaters assess, trial and implement energy curing in a structured way.”

Both Beckers Group and PPG have expanded their energy-curing operations during the past year. In October 2025, Beckers Group inaugurated its new R&D center in Shanghai, which the company noted includes dedicated space for customer collaboration and development of radcure technology. 

In April 2026, PPG reported it installed its new advanced testing line for radiation-curable coatings at its R&D Center of Excellence in Marly, France.

“Our deep expertise and broad capabilities in radiation curing set PPG apart and strengthen our position as a leader in energy-efficient finishing solutions,” said Mark Poland, PPG regional technical director, EMEA, Industrial Coatings, in announcing the new line. “This investment enables us to tailor finishing technologies to our customers’ specific lines, processes, and curing conditions, delivering measurable gains in performance and efficiency.”

Coil coatings are proving to be an ideal segment for UV curing. Stucky noted that UV was first used for wood coatings more than half a century ago.

“Energy-curable coatings were first introduced over 50 years ago with the adoption of ultraviolet (UV) curable coatings for wood,” Stucky said. “The development of electron beam (EB) curable coatings soon followed. PPG was an early pioneer of these advanced finishing solutions and still remains at the forefront of the industry. Today, UV- and EB-cured protective finishes have continued to evolve and are widely used on substrates like vinyl, composites, wood, and now coiled aluminum and steel.”

“UV has established use in several industrial segments, and coil coatings is now an active area of industrialization, with selective but tangible adoption,” said Bown. “Coil coating is one of the most demanding applications: high line speeds, tight process windows, forming requirements, corrosion protection, and long service‑life expectations.”

Bown noted that the use of UV/EB curing has been strongest in Europe. “For Beckers, UV/EB has advanced furthest in Europe, where we have commercialized UV/EB through a close collaboration with one of our customers,” Bown said. “In other regions, such as the Americas and Asia, developments are progressing through customer‑specific validation programs, reflecting local investment cycles and qualification requirements. We see high interest – driven by different motivations – in countries such as the U.S. or China.

“Beckers’ approach has been to develop UV/EB purpose-built for coil coatings and validate it through customer qualification and selective commercial deployment,” added Bown. “We are also investing in fundamental scientific research, to fully understand how to deploy the technology so as to meet customer and end-user needs.”

Bradford noted that UV coatings have made significant inroads in wood finishes, where the technology is already well established. 

“In this segment, UV curing enables high speed production, excellent surface performance, and consistent quality, making it ideal for applications such as furniture, flooring, cabinetry, and building products,” Bradford said. “In coil coatings, adoption has so far been more limited due to the scale and complexity of coil coating lines. However, this is starting to change as the industry looks to decarbonize and reduce reliance on energy-intensive thermal curing.”

Benefits of Energy Curing

Energy curing is fairly new to the coil coatings field, and one way to convince customers to switch from a traditional approach they are comfortable with to a new technology is by highlighting significant benefits. 

Stucky noted that traditional coil coating systems require very high temperatures to drive the curing process, while PPG DuraNEXT coatings use an electron beam or ultraviolet energy to convert a liquid coating into a fully cured solid finish in seconds, without any significant loss of thickness or weight.

“PPG DuraNEXT solutions are also formulated without solvents, so they produce little to no volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions,” Stucky added. “PPG DuraNEXT solutions are engineered for lasting durability and offer reduced energy usage, water consumption and CO₂ emissions, compared to traditional thermal cure coatings.”

Bown pointed out that the advantages are primarily operational and industrial, with sustainability benefits as an outcome. He noted that fast curing can enable reduced process time and improved line speed and efficiency, and the lower thermal load on the coated strip compared with conventional ovens can support energy reduction. There is also high process control and consistency, as the curing can be tightly managed, supporting stable quality at scale. There are also potential footprint benefits through shorter ovens and optimized line layouts.

“Our guiding principle is efficiency first – sustainability as a result of better industrial performance,” Bown said.

“Energy curing offers a step-change in how coatings are applied and processed,” Bradford observed. “By replacing traditional gas ovens with UV or electron beam systems, preferably powered by renewable electricity, coatings can be cured at the molecular level in seconds, or even fractions of a second. This brings several key advantages from lower energy and water consumption and reduced emissions through to high productivity, operational flexibility, and more compact production lines.”

“UV/EB in coil is a ‘build and prove’ technology,” Bown concluded. “Long-term success will favor companies that combine deep science, process capability, and disciplined customer validation – not those relying on early unsubstantiated promises. Coil coatings demands credibility and patience, not hype. Our focus at Beckers is to industrialize UV/EB responsibly – proving performance, enabling manufacturability, and supporting customers through qualification and adoption. We are building the technology for coil coatings from the ground up.” CW