Plasma treatment before painting on plastics, Laplas

Purpose and goal

The aim of the project was to investigate the possibility of using atmospheric plasma as a pre-treatment before plastic coating to completely / partially replace the current pre-treatment. The goal was to develop an automated and robust method for reducing waste, chemicals, energy and production area. The project has shown that plasma as sole pretreatment has the potential for full adherence and to clean from contamination (film and particles). Process windows and effect can vary between materials. Examples of advantages are flexibility, production area and environmental impact.

Expected results and effects

In addition to improved adhesion and cleaning effect, technical experiments with plasma have shown changes in surface chemistry and in long-term effect prior to coating. The geometry effect from plasma was also evaluated as well as the risk of generating internal stresses in PC. In addition to generic test series with powder and wet paint, 7 company-specific cases have been completed and 4 demonstrators. The results are generally positive. Dissemination activities were technical reports, conference presentations, workshops, annual meetings and technical journals.

Planned approach and implementation

The project has worked interactively with literature studies, generic tests and company tests and finally verified the results in demonstrators, implementation and sustainability studies. The project has worked within five work packages: Requirements and pretreatment processes for evaluation of plasma Cleaning, surface activation and deposition with plasma on plastics Coating improvements from plasma treatments Concept case evaluation, industrialization and environmental impact Project management and dissemination