An Interview with Plasmatreat

Thursday, 27 May 2021

What technologies do you specialise in?

Plasmatreat is an international leader in the development and manufacture of atmospheric plasma systems for the pretreatment of substrate surfaces. Whether plastic, metal, glass or paper – the industrial use of plasma technology modifies the properties of the surface in favor of the process requirements.

Openair-Plasma® technology is used in automated and continuous manufacturing processes in almost every industrial sector. Examples include the automotive, electronics, transportation, packaging, consumer goods and textile industry, but the technology, cost and environmental advantages of the plasma technology are used in medical technology and in the renewable energy sector as well.

A special example is the ev battery industry: plasma technology can be used for surface treatment in manufacturing EV batteries from cell manufacturing through to the battery pack assembly.

What excites you most about the EV and battery industries? What will you be looking out for yourselves at Battery Cells & Systems Expo and Vehicle Electrification Expo 2021?

The EV & battery industry is growing at an exponential pace, with new developments in both materials and the design of both the battery and the vehicle itself.

Challenges in battery production can be summarized by high-quality assembly, long service life, good temperature management and weather resistance. To achieve these, reliable bonding technology and stable assembly processes are a must. With Openair-Plasma® technology, strong and dependable bonding can be realized in an environmentally friendly way from the individual cell to the complete housing, whether prismatic, pouch or cylindrical cells.

We are happy to exhibit at the Battery Cells & Systems Expo and Vehicle Electrification Expo 2021 and expect exciting discussions with customers/interested people or perhaps universities/institutes etc.

The cold plasma and plasma equipment market is expected to see extraordinary growth in the coming years. How are Plasmatreat preparing for this?

Plasmatreat invested over 12% of its annual turnover in research and development into Openair-Plasma technology. We have for example recently launched new plasma jet allowing customers to pre-treat metal surfaces prior to digital printing at line speeds of 80m/min.

We also invested in new research and test equipment:

• the capacities of the technology and research center that opened in 2019, which comprises 14 laboratories and various testing facilities, will now be expanded to include a class-6 cleanroom.

Plasmatreat were asked to contribute to the Covid-19 effort due to your years of supplying the medical industry. Could you tell us more about this?

Plasmatreat has developed a sterilization enclosure for masks and gowns used in hospitals, which has shown that any contamination through the Covid-19 virus can be removed, reducing the investment in specialized cleaning equipment utilizing hydrogen peroxide.

The plasma sterilization cabinet was developed by Plasmatreat for the reprocessing of disposable protective clothing in the Corona pandemic and makes it possible to eliminate dangerous pathogens quickly, safely and in a material-friendly manner. For this purpose, a disinfecting atmosphere is built up inside the cabinet with the help of plasma and water or plasma-activated water. The highly reactive oxygen and hydroxyl radicals penetrate even dense tissues like gas disinfection and interact with the accessible surfaces without significantly damaging them. The sterilization process is fully automatic and takes only half an hour in total. Respirators, protective suits, goggles and gloves that have already been used can be cleaned and used again. Respiratory tubes and endoscopes can also be reprocessed in the future.

What are the latest Plasmatreat R&D breakthroughs you and your team are most excited about?

The latest breakthrough which is exciting is our PlasmaPlus® technology which allow customers to apply a nano coating onto their part giving an active corrosion protection, for example of the flange of a battery pack or other sensitive (electronic) components in battery/automotive manufacturing e.g. sensors.

What can visitors expect from your stand?

Customers will be able view live controlled Openair-Plasma being used. They also be able to view our plasma jets and system configurations, used in today’s EV battery production.

They can convince themselves, see plasma technology running and live and how could it help them optimize their processes and meet requirements in terms of e.g. bonding/anti corrosion in battery manufacturing

If visitors should know one thing about your company and experience, what would it be?

Plasmatreat has over 20 years’ experience in manufacturing industrial Openair-Plasma surface treatment equipment. As a market leader we offer a complete solution for today and tomorrow. With our portfolio, we already cover virtually all fields of technology critical to electric vehicles, and battery systems.