What is Plasma and Corona Surface Treatment Technology?

Plasma and Corona Surface Treatment Technology changes the very top surface of a material, introducing the right chemistry, perfect for improving adhesion of tapes, glue, printing inks and other processes such as wetting of liquids.

Revolutionising the world of surface treatment, Tantec offer Plasma, Corona and Ozone Treatments for most materials, metal and plastic surfaces being the most common, giving them adhesive properties to allow printing and bonding to easily take place.

The most advanced and successful methods of surface treatment are based on a principle of high voltage discharge in air.

Depending on the material’s formulation and exposure to elevated temperature, the shelf life of a treated material can range from hours to years, but can be limited by the presence of low molecular weight additives such as anti-block agents, mould release or antistatics.

Can I use surface treatment technology?

Surface treatment technology can be applied to almost any material, however, we see the most common projects with the following materials:

  • Polyethylene (PE) * Plexiglas (PMMA)
  • Polypropylene (PP) * Teflon (PTFE)
  • Polystyrene (PS) * Polycarbonate (PC)
  • EPDM-rubber * Polyurethane (PUR)
  • ABS * Aluminium
  • Stainless Steel * Gold
  • Titanium * Composites

For example?

Some of the specific applications for surface treatment include:

  • Treatment of syringe barrels prior to printing.
  • Treatment of the inner surface of needle hubs prior to bonding a stainless steel needle.
  • Treatment of cable insulation to improve adhesion of inks and coatings.
  • Treatment of injection moulded parts for leather wrapping, printing or adhesive applications.
  • Treatment of components prior to formed in place gasket (FIPG) application.
  • Treatment of plastic bottles prior to application of adhesive labels.
  • Treatment of automotive EPDM profiles prior to application of flock or slip coatings.
  • Treatment of printed circuit boards prior to component bonding and conformal coating.
  • Treatment of bio-medical testing devices to improve wettability For increased or controlled liquid flow.

Why use surface treatment?

There are many benefits of surface treatment, however to list a few:

  • Using treatment systems together with robots or other automation allows treatment to be performed inline with no frequent chemical or physical consumables.
  • Plasma and Corona are usually automated processes, offering repeatable and operator independent results consistently.
  • With controllable biproducts (typically ozone) which can be filtered easily, the health and safety risks are very low – especially when compared to dusty abrasion or highly dangerous primers and chemicals.
  • Running costs can be as low as a few hundred watts – with even the largest higher powered systems generally being under 5kW. Some systems also use compressed air.
  • Treating a surface allows you the freedom to choose your adhesive, ink or coating without restraint – opening up more suitable options, cheaper alternatives or easier to work with solutions.
  • Choosing a material because it can be bonded to is the wrong way round – pick the material that meets all your other demands – treatment will ensure bonding issues are a thing of the past.
  • Design your parts with freedom – bolts where bolts are needed, adhesives where adhesives are needed and print where print is needed. Don’t settle for mechanical fasteners when you want to bond components together.

Why us?

With over 40 years of experience in delivering and manufacturing quality, high-end surface treatment products for any industry, Tantec are your go-to specialists for developing new innovative solutions for a demanding market. Alongside the most comprehensive selection or bespoke and off the shelf treatment systems available to buy for your own factory, we also offer sub contract manufacturing so you can use our technology for small scale or early production runs.

Ready to treat your surfaces?

Get in touch with the team where we offer free lab services, trials and testing of parts to confirm treatment on your parts. Our Worcestershire based premises are OPEN to visitors to bring parts and see the technology first hand (we also put biscuits out): https://tantec-uk.com

Still not sure?

Check out our website for Frequently Asked Questions: https://tantec.com/knowledgebase-faq/

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