Five Reasons why Plasma and Corona Surface Treatment is the preferred solution among Medical Device Manufacturers

By Jeff Gradus, Vice President Tantec Est. USA

Uniform treatment to all surfaces

Vacuum plasma is a suitable technology when your product or part requires treatment to all surfaces. Even 3D parts with hard to reach areas, are treated all over and are ensured an even and uniform treatment because of the vacuum that is build up in the treatment chamber. Vacuum Plasma treatment is conducted in a controlled environment inside a sealed chamber, which is maintained at a medium vacuum, usually 2-12mbar. The gas is energized by an electrical high-frequency field. The chamber is now filled with plasma, and all surfaces are ensured treatment.

Read more about Tantec Vacuum Plasma solution: Tantec VacuTEC – Treats all sizes, parts are placed in trays in the chamber Tantec VacuLINE – Treats all sizes, a conveyor belt transport the parts to the chamber Tantec RotoVAC – Treats small parts, a drum is rotating in the chamber

Corona is also a reliable technology when you need uniform treatment to all surfaces. Our patented RotoTEC-X operates with an electrode and counter-electrode or dielectric. In RotoTEC systems, ball electrodes are placed on a turntable. They are arranged in a circle in the outer area of the disc and rotate during discharge. This creates a type of corona curtain through which the parts pass. This curtain ensures that the component contour as well as grooves, drill holes and edge projections come into contact with the corona atmosphere and are thus reliably pre-treated.

Read more about Tantec Corona solution: Tantec RotoTEC-X – Rotating electrodes from both sides

Treats a long range of materials

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Plastic and rubber materials such as Polyolefines, EPDM-rubber, Polyethylene (PE) Plexiglas (PMMA), Polypropylene (PP), Teflon (PTFE), Polystyrene (PS), Polycarbonate (PC), PVC, Polyurethane (PUR), ABS, etc. are the most common materials that challenge our customers with poor adhesion and wettability properties due to low surface energy. Plasma and Corona surface Treatment modifies the surface using electrical discharges and provides high surface energy ready to corporate with glue, ink coating, and other substrates.

But Plasma and Corona Surface Treatment is also a preferred solution for the activation of other complex surfaces before further processing. Metals, glass, fabric, and ceramics are just some of the materials that also are treatable with great results.

Cleaning with Plasma and Corona is also very effective. Contaminated surfaces will create problems with bonding, printing, and coating processes, but using plasma and corona technologies, you are ensured a clean surface.

Read more about metal cleaning: Tantec PlasmaTEC-X – for metal cleaning

High-quality results

Plasma and Corona Surface Treatment is highly recommended to productions where high quality is a determining factor. This is not only due to the ensured uniform treatment and lasting durability, but mostly because of the possibility to control the treatment process and customize the solution to the exact purpose. For example, needle hubs require treatment before attaching the needle. Untreated hubs present tensile strengths between 18-25N, whereas Corona-treated hubs achieve tensile strengths up to 75N.

Another example is Coloplast’s female catheters that are made of silicone; a material commonly used in various forms throughout the medical industry. Silicone is made of synthetic polymers, making it biocompatible, reliable, flexible, and easy to sterilize, and therefore an ideal choice for female catheters.

Unfortunately, inks and other coatings do not adhere properly to the surface of silicone because of its low surface energy and open surface structure. Before treatment, silicone’s surface energy is only 38mn. Vacuum plasma treatment nearly doubles the surface energy to 72mn – which is necessary for Coloplast’s patented coating to wet the surface and adhere properly.

Tantec VacuTEC Plasma and Corona Surface Treatment also eliminate the inefficiencies, safety hazards, and product damage potential of open flame treatment, chemical surface preparation and sanding techniques, while offering improved bonding results as well.

Tantec produces several solutions with fast treatment times. See our list of surface treatment products of plasma treaters and corona treaters. Should you have any further questions, our specialists are here to help:

Fast treatment time

It applies to all our solutions that the processing time is short. The factors that determine the treatment time is the size of the part, treatment technology, and further process.

Low costs

Plasma and Corona Surface Treatment gives you the opportunity to work with low-cost materials and at the same time skip the use of expensive adhesives and chemicals. Furthermore, the fast treatment time brings your products faster to the next process.