How does UV curing work?
In: Chemistry
Gel nail polish contains specific chemicals that are called photoinitiators. What this basically means, is that these chemicals are made to break apart when exposed to the ultraviolet wavelength of light. The breaking of these chemicals releases something called free radicals, which is a fancy way of saying very reactive molecules. These reactive molecules then start breaking apart the double bonds on the gel’s component molecules, which is a chemical process called “polymerization”. Think of it like peeling the protective layer off of a sticker; when the protective layer is on all the stickers in a box, they will just move around eachother and not stick together, but once you remove that protective layer they start sticking and forming a big clump. So the gel’s component molecules that have now had their double-bond caps broken off will now start sticking to one another in a very strong lattice-like pattern, which on a macroscopic level results in the hardened nail polish we see.
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