Plasmatreat, the leading supplier of atmospheric pressure plasma technology, has developed and patented a nanocoating process called PlasmaPlus that protects the coating on decorative aluminium strips from corrosion. Extreme demands on corrosion protection are likely to arise from new planned washing processes operating with highly alkaline washing solutions (pH: 13.5). The trim strips are waxed immediately after production to prevent scratching and soiling of the surfaces, but before the car is dispatched the hydrocarbon is removed again by manual polishing. This is a distinctly time-consuming and cost-intensive operation. Nevertheless, an outstanding level of corrosion protection is needed to cope with this future washing process. Even after one or two minutes the surface protected only by anodisation will be so damaged that the gloss is lost. Until recently, plasma polymerisation was a process that could only be carried out in a vacuum. The new technique makes it possible to coat the surfaces of materials with nanometre-thin layers for the very fi rst time at atmospheric pressure. The technique has great economic effi ciency since in contrast with low-pressure processes it is carried out without a vacuum chamber and it is used in-line. The coating, based on organosilicon compounds, is applied by robot. It has no effect on visual appearance and provides the surface with an additional level of protection against corrosion beyond anodisation. - www.plasmatreat.com

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