Photoacoustic study of curing time by UV laser radiation of a photoresin with different thickness

• The curing of a resin in the presence of a UV laser radiation was studied.
• Open photoacoustic cell technique was used to characterize the curing of the resin.
• The curing of the resin as a function of time was studied.
• A parabolic behavior of the resin thickness, as a function of time was observed.
• UV–vis and FTIR spectroscopy were employed to characterize the resin.

This paper deals with the study of the cure of a resin in the presence of a UV laser radiation used as the excitation source, operated at λ = 405 nm, with an output power of 20 mW. The open photoacoustic cell (OPC) technique was used to study the curing of the resins as a function of time. The curing characteristic time values were τ = 10.43, 20.99, 30.18, 45.84, 67.59 and 89.55 s for the resin thicknesses of 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000 and 6000 μm, respectively. A parabolic behavior of the resin thickness, as a function of the curing characteristic time, was obtained. UV–vis spectroscopy and infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (FTIR) techniques were employed to characterize the resin in order to study the optical absorption and the chemical bonds, respectively. Our work has applications in the manufacture of 3D printing parts for applications, among others, in medicine.