Applications

Plasma – i.e. ionized gas – is an important tool for the production of high-quality coatings and the optimization of surfaces, i.e. the key to completely new product surfaces and thus innovative new products.

Fields of application Plasma surface technology
With plasma surface technology to new products

Industrial plasma surface technology is growing rapidly. The application spectrum of plasma ranges from the coating of metallic surfaces to glass coating and the deposition of multifunctional coating systems on plastics.

In many industries, plasma surface technology is already bringing about significant changes in product properties and improvements in quality. Often surfaces are the key to product properties. Products such as OLED TVs or thermal insulation panels can only be manufactured using plasma technology.

Robust and powerful tools

Plasma surface technology has become an indispensable part of modern manufacturing. Higher quality and production requirements as well as new materials demand powerful tools and constant development of high-performance surfaces on their surfaces. By means of surface treatment and coating, tool life is increased, deposits are avoided and self-lubrication effects are achieved.

The INPLAS working group “Tool Coatings” is active in this field. The participants determine tasks that are worked on collaboratively. These include, for example:

  • Initiation and implementation of projects for application-oriented adaptation of tools
  • Standardization, guidelines, norms
  • Implementation of legal requirements
  • Testing the machinability of new workpiece materials
  • Screening of tool/coating performance
  • Evaluation of new coating technologies and/or
    Measurement methods
  • Interlaboratory tests, e.g. for measuring coating thickness and/or adhesion
  • Tutorials for machining or coating basics,
    Analytical methods
  • Market research

Contact

Contact person: Dipl.-Ing. Hanno Paschke

Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST, Dortmund site (Dortmunder Oberflächencentrum DOC)

Robust and powerful tools

Plasma surface technology has become an indispensable part of modern manufacturing. Higher quality and production requirements as well as new materials demand powerful tools and constant development of high-performance surfaces on their surfaces. By means of surface treatment and coating, tool life is increased, deposits are avoided and self-lubrication effects are achieved.

The INPLAS working group “Tool Coatings” is active in this field. The participants determine tasks that are worked on collaboratively. These include, for example:

  • Initiation and implementation of projects for application-oriented adaptation of tools
  • Standardization, guidelines, norms
  • Implementation of legal requirements
  • Testing the machinability of new workpiece materials
  • Screening of tool/coating performance
  • Evaluation of new coating technologies and/or
    Measurement methods
  • Interlaboratory tests, e.g. for measuring coating thickness and/or adhesion
  • Tutorials for machining or coating basics,
    Analytical methods
  • Market research

Contact

Contact person: Dipl.-Ing. Hanno Paschke

Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST, Dortmund site (Dortmunder Oberflächencentrum DOC)

Functionalization of flexible materials

Surface activation and functionalization are the goals in the area of plastics and textile technology, in addition to direct coatings. Chemical bonds can be broken by activating the surfaces using plasma. The high energies of the electrons in the plasma are very well suited for this purpose. The economic significance is already enormous. The processes take place at atmospheric pressure.

Applications include plasma treatments of car bumpers, film and plastic packaging, food packaging or sterilization. As a next step, chemical functionalizations are also possible. This allows materials to be prepared for further surface processes. For example, technical textiles, protective clothing, filtration and transport systems can be made water and oil repellent.

The competences of the network in detail
Learn more about our INPlas members

INPLAS not only bundles competencies in these areas, but also contributes to the development of competencies – among other things, through communication and cooperation between the players who use plasma surface technology.

Experts from INPLAS member organizations meet regularly in working groups to address current technological issues. Competent partners for cooperation on a project basis are quickly found.