A frequently appearing problem is the cleaning of surfaces, i.e. of stripping- or lubricating agents, to guarantee an optimal adhesion from adhesives and varnish. Most of the procedures appointed here require organic or water-based solvents and involve the application of great amounts of environmentally understressing chemicals which causes high costs.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technical Science and Applied Material Research (IFAM) in Bremen, Germany has successfully worked on this question for a long time, with the help of low-pressure plasma technique. In this connection, the work piece will be exposed at low-pressures for short intervals to a cold oxygen plasma, whereby the mode of action of the plasma consists in cleaning the surface from organic pollutions in the meaning of a controlled "cold " combustion. Coarse impurities, i.e. large particles and thick layers cannot be eliminated economically in this manner; rather, they should be removed before in another method (mechanical, with compressed air, with water-based cleaning). In a following step, the secondary cleaning from the remaining contamination in a plasma will be carried out, i.e. from thin oil films. Here the procedure has the advantage to be resource saving and very gently for the work piece.
Furthermore, advantages of the procedure lay in the fact that chemically stable and good adhering substances can be easily removed from practically every work piece geometry, as well as in the possibility to combine the cleaning step with a surface activation step, without increasing the process costs. A convenient example for the application of this technique is the substitution of a solvent-based cleaning procedure through a water-based one, which is followed by a secondary cleaning and activation step by plasma treatment.
Within the bounds of its function as service provider in technology transfer, IFAM offers its resources for the processing of the above-mentioned industrial questions up to series production. Our service comprises consultation, process development, sampling and industrial installation through pilot terotechnology.
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