Method for measuring residual radiation-curable monomers or oligomers

摘要

A method of measuring intensity of radiant energy fluoresced by a fluorescer in a radiation-cured coating. The method comprising the steps of: a) providing a coating comprising: i) a radiation-curable monomer or oligomer; and ii) a fluorescer having an excitation energy at a wavelength lambda 2, the fluorescer fluorescing radiant energy of a wavelength lambda 3; b) curing the coating by exposure to radiant energy, thereby changing the intensity of radiant energy that would be fluoresced by the fluorescer if exposed to wavelength lambda 2; c) illuminating the radiation-cured coating with excitation energy of a wavelength lambda 2, wherein at least 50% of the excitation energy is absorbed by the upper 75 mu m of the radiation-cured coating; and d) measuring the intensity of the radiant energy fluoresced by the fluorescer at wavelength lambda 3. The above method can be used to measure the amount of residual radiation-curable monomer or oligomer present in a radiation-cured coating. This method of measuring residual monomer is especially useful where the intensity of the radiant energy fluoresced by the fluorescer at wavelength lambda 3 changes with the concentration of unreacted radiation-curable monomer or oligomer in the radiation-cured coating.