Cost pressure and increasing quality demands require new process technologies in industrial production. This is where plasma pre-treatment can help. It offers the unique possibility of replacing a multitude of chemical treatment steps with a single efficient and environmentally friendly and thus more cost-effective process. Cleaning and activation of surfaces by plasma pretreatment Typical requirements for plasma treatments are the homogeneity and the strength of the treatment. In many material-plasma combinations, the classical contact or contact angle investigation provides only insufficient, rough macroscopic information on the activation/cleaning of the surface due to their structural or topographical dependence. For the quantitative evaluation of plasma treatments, a scanning force microscope-based imaging method for the analysis of plasma-treated surfaces was developed in cooperation with various plasma manufacturers. The critical parameters of a plasma-treated surface to be examined are: - Topographic change of the surface by plasma input - Quantization of surface hydrophilicity on the µ and nm scale. - Change of the elastic property of the surface - Detection and classification of imperfections - Duration of surface activation, time constants The combination of chemical force microscopy with the digital pulsed force mode makes it possible to determine these parameters. With a resolution in the nm range, the surface is scanned force-specifically with a hydrophobically modified measuring probe. The data obtained include information on topography, elastic properties, adhesive interaction and thus on the intensity of plasma treatment (hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity). This innovative imaging method can be used from the µm scale up to the highest spatial resolution in the molecular range. The FD technology optimised by us is used for macroscale tasks.
