S U R FAC E T EC H N O LO GY

Linear plasma
treatment allows
surfaces of
8 mm-thick foam
to be treated
(figures: Softal)

Molecular
Functionalization of
Polymer Surfaces
Atmospheric Pressure Plasma is highly suitable for treating the surfaces of ther-
mally sensitive polymers. This method can also process materials of any desired
thickness. In a further application, plasma in a controlled gas atmosphere offers a
replacement for wet-chemical adhesion promoters.

FRANK FÖRSTER

tmospheric-pressure plasma and

A corona technology have been wide-

ly used for many decades for sur-
face treatment in extrusion and convert-
ing of polymers. Atmospheric pressure
plasmas continually open up new fields
of application. The main focuses are the
adaptation of the plasma sources to ma-
terials and geometries, and plasma-in- Fig. 1. Besides foams with different surfaces, multiwall panels can also be treated by the linear
duced surface functionalization. Against plasma process; where conventional corona treatment may not be used
this background, Softal Corona & Plasma
GmbH, Hamburg, Germany, has devel- as to improve the adhesion of inks, lac- These groups are polar and increase the
oped linear plasma technology and Al- quers, adhesives and coatings. The vol- surface energy. However, in practice, con-
dyne atmospheric plasma treatment. ume properties of the polymer matrix are ventional corona technology is limited to
not changed. Besides its high efficiency, two-dimensional materials with thick-
Plasma Initiates Chemical its use is also favored by its controllabili- nesses of only a few millimeters (Fig. 1).
Reactions ty, ease of handling and low costs. For the first time, linear plasma sur-
During pretreatment, the plasma acti- face technology allows materials of un-
The aim of corona treatment is to adjust vates a large number of chemical reactions limited thickness to be treated (Fig. 2). At-
the surface energy in a controlled way so in the air within the electrode gap and on mospheric-pressure plasma treatment
the polymer surface. The result is the modifies the surface of plastic sheets,
Translated from Kunststoffe 10/2010, pp. 183–184 chemical bonding of functional groups, polymer foams and composites in the
Article as PDF-File at www.kunststoffe- such as hydroxides, ketones, ethers and subnanometer range, so that adhesives,
international.com; Document Number: PE110545 carboxylic acids to the polymer surface. printing inks, lacquers and other coat-

136 © Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich Kunststoffe international 10/2010

 S U R FAC E T EC H N O LO GY

Surface Treatment via a No liquid or solid materials are involved

Controlled Gas Atmosphere in the surface treatment, and therefore no
residues and contamination can be de-
The Aldyne process – used as surface posited. Since no solvents are involved,
treatment in a controlled gas atmosphere there is also no need for cleaning and dry-
– achieves the efficiency of wet-chemical ing, and the associated downtimes. There
coating processes at a fraction of the costs. is also no risk of inclusion in the surfaces.
This permits targeted control of the
chemical processes that take place in the
plasma, and ultimately on the surface to
be treated. As a result, functional coatings
of the thickness of a monolayer (typical-
ly 0.3 to 0.4 nm) comprising, for exam-
Fig. 2. This surface technology can be used to ple, amide, imide and amino groups,
treat materials of any thickness; atmospheric which are covalently bound to the outer-
pressure plasma modifies the surface on a sub most polymer chains. These functional
nanometer scale groups allow the polymer to bond to ad-
hesives and other coatings (Fig. 3).
ings adhere reliably. The high efficiency In many applications, where adequate
of the plasma source also allows the bonding is not possible using corona
treatment of highly thermally sensitive treatment, adhesion-promoting liquid Fig. 4. The stations are designed for inline treat-
materials. Multiwall panels or honey- primers are used. This increases manu- ment and can treat, for example, web widths of
comb structures can also be activated in facturing costs i.e. primer, the production 2 m at production speeds of 300 m/min
this way. In open-pored foam, there is no process and the removal of organic sol-
risk of localized preferential discharges, vents. Treatment in a controlled gas at- The process gases required for the
and closed-pored foams are not perfo- mosphere offers an alternative to liquid process are harmless to health, non-haz-
rated (Title photo). Furthermore, the edge primers on polymer surfaces such as ardous and environmentally safe. The
regions are not damaged by the plasma polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE) same applies to the layers because of their
discharge and, it is not necessary to adapt and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). In composition and the small amounts of
the material width to the electrode comparison to liquid priming, under nor- substance. Since a covalent bond is pres-
width. In addition, the system can be in- mal production conditions, the Aldyne ent, the adhesion promoter is also not
stalled in existing extrusion and convert- process costs only a tenth of treatment volatile.
ing lines. with conventional primers.
Water-cooled Electrodes for
Plasma Output

The second equipment generation (Fig. 4)

now incorporates water-cooled elec-
trodes. These allow high plasma outputs
to be achieved even with a reduced size,
without harming the materials. The
chemical processes at the material surface
are intensified by the concentrated plas-
ma discharge.
Furthermore, the housing has been op-
timized and new sealing systems installed
to reduce gas consumption and cut oper-
ating costs. Customers have a free choice
of gas suppliers. It is also possible to pro-
vide stations for any desired web sizes and
speeds. 

THE AUTHOR
DR. FRANK FÖRSTER, born in 1961, is head of
process development at Softal Corona & Plasma
Fig. 3. An untreated surface only has hydrocarbon compounds; treatment in a controlled gas atmos- GmbH, Hamburg, Germany.
phere creates functional coatings that form a layer with an adhesion-promoting monolayer primer

Kunststoffe international 10/2010 137