ABSTRACT
Electromagnetic radiation (or light) can be used as the energy source for a variety of processes involving functional monomers, oligomers, and polymers. In these processes, it is utilized mainly to effect the formation of new chemical bonds. The light used in polymeric systems typically has wavelengths ranging in the ultraviolet spectral range extending from 200 to 400 nm, although in some special cases it may include wavelength in the visible range up to 760 nm. Xenon lamps provide significant emissions in the 450 to 550 nm range.1 Since the energy of radiation increases with increasing frequency (or decreasing wavelength), radiation with short waves contains a large amount of energy. This energy is capable of bringing about certain chemical reactions in a system that is sensitive to light, which means that it has the ability to absorb it. Then the absorbed energy can generate species, which are capable of initiating polymerization or cross-linking reactions.
