Rapid FTIR Press-Side Testing to Confirm the Cure of UV/EB Coatings for Packaging Applications

UV and EB curable coatings provide very desirable appearance and resistance properties for surface printed packaging. Coatings suitable for indirect food packaging applications are available; however, they must be properly cured in order to achieve the desired low migration properties. Migration testing using food simulants requires testing by an outside lab and takes at least several days to get results. Testing using reflective (ATR) FTIR spectroscopy can be accomplished in a few minutes and works with almost any substrate. FTIR equipment is relatively low cost and easy to operate and maintain. The method was validated by correlating FTIR results with migration testing on EB coatings cured with a series of dose levels.