The cooperative partnership between Vetaphone, the Danish pioneers of Corona treatment technology, and Coating Plasma Industrie (CPI), the French leader in surface treatment technology, has created EASI-Plasma, a new product for the coating, laminating and printing industries. Nick Coombes reports from a seminar in Peynier, at which the two companies addressed an audience of substrate manufacturers and converters.
When Verner Eisby developed the electrical Corona discharge treatment concept into commercial reality back in 1951, he solved one of the major problems facing the coating, laminating and printing industries – adherence. The Corona principle still holds, and today is seen in operation on many thousands of production lines worldwide. But, Corona is not the answer to all adherence problems, and with more and different applications being demanded on an increasing number of new substrates, the industry is ready for the next generation of surface treatment technology.
Stressing the point that EASI-Plasma should not be seen as a replacement for Corona treatment, he went on to say: “While we may predict a small level of business, perhapsthree to five percent, moving from Corona to EASI-Plasma, the major impact of this technology will be in developing new products in new markets.”Explaining how Vetaphone shares R&D with its customers on a ‘royalty free’ basis, and delivers test results under an NDA, he claimed that EASI-Plasma would offer significant new properties and cost savings across a broad spectrum of flexible materials.
The opportunities and benefits of EASI-Plasma were explained in detail by Bertrand Jaccoud of CPI. He said that the company, which is R&D driven, hasmore than 10 years of practical experience with plasma treatment, working with universities and technical institutes to solve adhesion and coating problems at its production and test facilities in Peynier.
To illustrate the principles of these new techniques, several Case Studies were quoted. The first, involved Polymer COEX PP, with a primer, solvent inks and Corona treatment used for food packaging, being switched toUV-flexo inks being used on standard packaging film that had been EASI-Plasma advanced grafted.
Other studies included: EASI-Plasma advanced grafting of Fluor polymer film to allow the use of a more eco-friendly and cheaper glue that offered better anti-stick and anti-stain properties; dealing with the anti-fog properties of printed PP and PE films used in food and greenhouse applications where odour and contamination were persistent problems by using EASI-Plasma anti-fog Silica Nanocoating, which gave the PP and PE films a high surface energy; and finally, an example of how CPI used EASI-Plasma Silicone release to Nanocoat a 1.2m wide PET film and produce a non-contaminating eco-friendly release liner.
What is on offer from Vetaphone/CPI is a bespoke service that can be tailored to individual requirements, with an open two-way dialogue throughout. It offers full test and demonstration facilities for web widths from 100mm to 1.2m, on substrates from 3-micron to 5mm in thickness at speeds from 10m/min to more than 600m/min.
Moving onto the production floor, Eric Gat showed a diagram that illustrated how the process worked inside the EASI-Plasma station, pointing out the critical part played by its ability to adjust the gap between the rollers and the electrodes. The Quick Change Cassette, which was originally designed to facilitate cleaning and maintenance, now offers the opportunity to have all processes in one unit. Both Gas Controller and iPLASMA Generator have touchscreen control panels. These offer precise management control of each job, and provide a production log for repeat work and performance assessment, as well as a suggested maintenance schedule.
Listing the range of substrates on which Vetaphone has successfully performed Advanced Grafting and SIOx coating, he explained that on known products, coating layers can be reduced to 10nm – which is 100 times less than conventional layers.This opens a whole new range of product opportunities in new markets, from agriculture and food to hygiene and medical applications. EASI-Plasma will allow food to be packaged in film with an anti-bacterial surface – it will prolong the storage life of the world’s food resources, and offer improved distribution logistics. In agriculture, it will ensure better growing conditions for crops that maximise production and reduce the need for non eco-friendly fertiliser. In medicine, surfaces can be tailored for special cells or bacteria, and EASI-Plasma can produce faster and better diagnostic products.
If the product appears too good to be true, perhaps the best yardstick to use for judging the success of the seminar came from the reaction of three brand owners that attended the seminar,each of which, in their own market sectors, could become major users of EASI-Plasma. Unwilling, for confidentiality reasons, to be identified, they included a leading global brand in tissue and toiletry products, a major label converting group, and a major European food packaging manufacturer. All reacted positively, and expressed the desire to know more, pledging to recommend their own R&D units to explore the practical application of EASI-Plasma technology on existing product lines. Consistent performance is crucial to any new technology being adopted in the commercial environment. Time and testing will prove the case for EASI-Plasma according to Vetaphone and CPI.