Plasma activation for surface activation and modification

If surfaces have to be varnished, printed or glued, they require good wettability of the surface for good adhesion. Many surfaces show insufficient wettability even in a clean state, which is intensified by impurities. As a result, liquids like adhesives and inks roll off. This is because the surface tension is very low and insufficient for further processing. If unprocessed material is processed, the result is often that paint and varnish do not adhere properly and quickly come loose again or that bonded parts fall apart. This can be prevented with plasma activation and surface modification.

Plasmaactivation for creating molecule layers on the surface

Plasma activation of a surface increases its surface energy and creates molecular anchor groups that correlate with those of the liquid. This manifests itself through improved wetting and leads to an optimized adhesion of suitable liquids.

Practical example: Plasma activation of polyphenylene sulfide

In the example, two polyphenylene sulfide components were treated with atmospheric pressure plasma from the plasmabrush PB3 system.

Untreated PPS components cannot be wetted with a test ink of 40 mN/m.

After plasma treatment, the component is completely wetted with a test ink of 60 mN/m.

Suitable materials

The following materials can be plasma activated:

Plastics

Oberflächenbehandlung von Kunststoffe — Most common plastics are suitable for surface treatment and ultra-fine cleaning.

Metals

Oberflächenbehandlung von Metalle mit atmosphärischem Plasma — Surface treatment of metals is carried out with atmospheric plasma technology from relyon plasma, for cleaning, oxide reduction and pre-treatment.

Anorganic Materials

Plasmabehandlung von anorganischen Materialien — Plasma treatment of inorganic materials such as glass, stone or ceramics can significantly increase the surface energies.

Plastics >>

Metals >>

Anorganic materials >>

Furthermore, plasma treatment of natural leather, artificial leather, natural fibre, wood or paper is also possible.

Advantages of plasma activation

High process speed and reliability
No running costs
Environmentally friendly treatment without additional chemicals
Easy inline integration and automation

Technical articles on the topic

Before bonding: how long does a plasma treatment last?

How long does a plasma treatment last? This depends heavily on the material, the plasma device used and other influencing factors.

3D-Preview relyon plasma booth at the MD&M trade fair anaheim (USA)

Plasma technology live at the MD&M trade fair

relyon plasma will showcase innovative solutions for disinfection, adhesion optimization, and the integration of plasma technology into industrial processes at the MD&M fair in Anaheim (USA) from February 4 to 6, 2025. Visitors can look forward to exciting live demonstrations on-site.

43. ak-adp workshop in Leipzig

From April 26-27, 2023, relyon plasma will present the piezobrush® PZ3-i at the 43. ak-adp workshop in Leipzig as part of the #ZukunftADP 2021.

Grounding of conductive substrates

When using PAA® technology, the ignited plasma bridge can be used for electrical grounding of conductive substrates.

Plasmacleaning – Article magazin “JOT”

Paint stripping and cleaning with plasma is possible with the high performance system plasmabrush® PB3 of relyon plasma.