Annick Vanhulsel, VITO SIM User Forum 19.11...Nov 26, 2014 · Enhancing the compatibility of...

Enhancing the compatibility of materials by atmospheric plasma technology

Annick Vanhulsel, VITO SIM User Forum 19.11.2014

SIM User Forum 19/11/2014 2 © 2014, VITO NV

VITO, VIsion on TechnOlogy » Independent research and consultancy centre in the areas of cleantech and

sustainable development; » Bridge between academia – government – industry » Support sustainable technological development in Flanders/Europe/worldwide

Energy Environment Industrial Innovation


Plasma technology - a powerful tool for surface modification

SUBSTRATE

fragmentation polymerisation

deposition

recombination


OH NH COOH F C=O

cleaning

functionalisation

nano-coating

Surface modification by atmospheric plasma technology

Plastic, metal, glass, ceramic,…


Atmospheric Plasma Technology @ VITO

» Cold atmospheric plasma using Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) technology

» Unique combination of gas discharge and addition of chemical precursors

» To obtain a dedicated chemical surface functionalization of many types of materials

» Different plasma configurations for treatment of various substrate types:

» Foils, paper, fibres, non-wovens, plates, 3D components, powders

» Plasma systems from lab-scale to pilot-scale


Atmospheric plasma technology - USP

» Multiple purpose technology: activation - functionalisation - nanocoating

» Wide variety of chemistry » Cold plasma enabling treatment of temperature sensitive materials » Operates at ambient pressure integration in continuous production

lines » Flexible switching between process conditions » Sustainable technology

Less chemicals to be used Less energy Low emissions


PlasmaZone® PlasmaSpot® PlasmaLine®

Foils, fibres, membranes etc. 3D parts Foams, plates, non-wovens etc

Confidential

Atmospheric plasma equipment

http://www.afs.biz/

http://www.softal.de/


Indirect PlasmaSpot® Functionalisation and coating of 3D components

PlasmaLine® Functionalisation of thick substrates

Indirect

Direct PlasmaZone® Functionalisation and coating of thin flat substrates

Different plasma configurations


» Continuous surface treatment of foils, sheets, yarns integration in industrial production processes

» Pilot-scale roll-to-roll systems @ VITO » Combination of atmospheric plasma treatment and in-line coating or lamination

Scalability of atmospheric plasma technology

Micro roller 1-2 µm Knife coating

50-500 µm


Scalability of atmospheric plasma technology


Applications using atmospheric plasma technology

» Surface functionalization for adhesion improvement in sandwich structures

» Surface modification of fine particles to tune the interaction with their environment

» Treatment of carbon fibres to optimize interfacial strength in CFRP


Adhesion improvement in composite panels

» Adhesion between backside coated steel plates and PE film » PlasmaLine® treatment of polyester coated steel before lamination

to a PE core (PE/PP adhesive film was used)

PE core

Plasma coating Backside coated steel

Adhesive PE film


Lightweight polymer-steel hybrids

» Studied within SIM NANOFORCE program » Adhesion between stainless steel and epoxy or PA6 resin » PlasmaZone® treatment with a siloxane precursor on stainless steel strongly

improves the adhesion strength » A post condensation (thermal or plasma) was needed to obtain good adhesion

Direct plasma treatment (PlasmaZone®)


Control interaction between particle and environment » affinity with matrix material » control level of agglomeration » stability of dispersions

Add extra functionalities to the particle » protective coatings » improved flowability » improved adhesion » …

without changing the bulk material

customized micro/nanopowders with higher added-value

Why?

additives, pigments, composites, cosmetics, catalysis, batteries, biomedical

Plasma functionalisation of micro/nano powders


SIM horizontal program TRAP Tools for Rational Processing of nanoparticle based materials

» SBO project FUNC- “Tools for dry nanofunctionalization of particles and fibrous materials”

» 1/9/2014 – 31/8/2018

» Development of two complementary technologies for nanofunctionalization of particles: atmospheric plasma and atomic layer deposition (ALD)

» Initial focus on polymer particles, steel fibres and porous particles

» Characterisation of surface modified particles and fibres

http://www.vub.ac.be/


» Powder downflow reactor

» Cold atmospheric plasma – cylindrical configuration

» Dry injection of powder in a gas flow

» Limited residence time of particles in plasma (ms)

» Current powder volumes: 100g à 1 kg/h

» Micro- and nanopowders

» Possibility to add liquid precursors to apply specific functionalities

Atmospheric plasma system for powder treatment


Atmospheric plasma system for powder treatment


Improving the dispersion behaviour of powders

After 1h After 24h

PE Untreated

PE N2-treated

CB Untreated

CB N2-treated

CB Untreated

CB N2-treated

2 months after plasma treatment

» Atmospheric plasma functionalisation of PE and carbon black

» Positive effect on the wettability of the particles

» Dispersion test in water Improvement of dispersion stability


at% O

at% N

Plasma functionalisation of UHMW PE powder

» Plasma functionalisation of UHMW PE particles » Grafting of polar groups at particle surface » Improved dispersion stability of the polymer powder in water


Atmospheric plasma coating on powders

ZrO2 ZrO2

» Siloxane coating on ZrO2 beads » Several coating patches on particle surface » Coating thickness 10-20 nm


NEWSPEC

» NEW cost-effective and Sustainable PolyEthylene based Carbon fibres for volume market applications

» Large-scale integrating EC-project


Plasma functionalisation of reinforcing fibres

» Change the surface properties (chemical/physical) of the CF (without damaging the fibre structure)

» Create reactive groups/bonding sites on the fibre surface

» Promote adhesion between fibres and matrix key element for optimal mechanical properties of resulting composite material


Atmospheric plasma treatment of carbon fibres » Develop alternative process for electrochemical oxidation » Flexibility to apply specific functional groups to the fibre surface (not only

oxidation) to match with different matrix materials » Development of a continuous atmospheric plasma process for controlled

oxidation

Courtesy of Amit Naskar


Conclusion

» Atmospheric plasma technology is a versatile tool for interface engineering

» Can be used to optimize the affinity between different materials in hybrid systems

» Different DBD plasma systems are available for treatment of foils, plates, fibres, particles

» Technology is upscalable for use in roll-to-roll processes » Developments ongoing in 2 SIM programs

www.vitoplasma.com

Annick Vanhulsel, VITO SIM User Forum 19.11...Nov 26, 2014 · Enhancing the compatibility of...

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