30 years of atmospheric pressure plasma technology

Under the motto "30 years of atmospheric pressure plasma technology", Plasmatreat celebrated the anniversary of the patent application for its open-air plasma technology with the Plasmatreat Technology Days 2025.

On 2 and 3 July, Plasmatreat celebrated the 30th anniversary of the patent application for its open-air plasma technology with the Plasmatreat Technology Days 2025 at its headquarters in Steinhagen. Three decades ago, this innovative process for the pre-treatment of surfaces with atmospheric plasma generated under normal pressure and suitable for industrial use began its triumphal march. With its process stability, efficiency, environmental friendliness and ease of integration into production environments, it has revolutionized a number of industrial processes around the world to date. And new fields of application are constantly opening up for Plasmatreat's open-air plasma technology. These were the focus of the high-caliber event with more than 200 guests, 16 industry partners and the international sales team.

"The future of plasma technology has only just begun - and so has our journey together. We are still at the beginning," said Plasmatreat founder and senior partner Christian Buske in his welcome address to the 'Plasma(treat) Universe'. "Our tool is ionized gas. All of our applications use this tool to specifically change the structure of the surfaces of a variety of different materials. Our plasma technology gives us countless possibilities to influence the surfaces of plastics, metals, glass, cardboard, foils, fibers, composites or recycled materials with plasma technology and to create special properties for their further processing." Ultra-fine cleaning, activation, reduction and coatings for a variety of industrial applications - these are the basic tasks of plasma technology.

"Think future, experience innovation" - that was the motto of the Technology Days. And it ran like a golden thread through the event. The agenda included a balanced mix of exciting specialist lectures, workshops, presentations and discussions in the exclusive partner exhibition. In the workshops, Plasmatreat experts used specific examples to show how the company's solutions are used in innovative applications and either open up completely new possibilities or take manufacturing processes to a new level.

The same applied to the trade fair stands of the 16 participating industry partners. These included Beckhoff Automation, Bodo Möller Chemie, CeraCon, Drei Bond Chemische Verbindungstechnik, Delo Industrieklebstoffe, the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAM, the Hahn Automation Group, Krüss, Tampoprint, OptiMel Schmelzgusstechnik, Hermann Otto, the Rampf Group, the Sika Group, Tesa, Venjakob Maschinenbau and Volz Selbstklebetechnik. These partners also provided visitors with a number of suggestions on how to optimize their production and open up new options.

Hans Beckhoff, Dr. Joerg Ihde from Fraunhofer IFAM, Dr. Alexander Stoppa from Irlbacher, Peter Auerbeck from Grob-Werke and Gunnar Melles from Tesa were involved in the design and presentation of the specialist lectures at the Plasmatreat Technology Center. In their exciting presentations, the experts highlighted the latest trends in the development of new products at their companies and how they are using Plasmatreat's solutions. Beckhoff gave insights into the latest innovations in automation, while Stoppa spoke about hardware designs for glass-based human-machine interfaces for harsh industrial environments. Auerbeck and Melles focused on battery production for e-mobility in their presentations.

The presentation by Lukas Buske, who as a member of the Plasmatreat management team is responsible for sales and service as well as market segment development, was eagerly awaited. He reviewed the development history of open-air plasma technology with reference to the automotive industry. Its origin was a joint project with an automotive supplier from the region, in which both companies achieved a breakthrough in the bonding of headlights with the PP (polypropylene) housing.

"Since then, we have developed a wide range of solutions in close cooperation with customers over three decades: from laboratory and stand-alone systems to the integration of our systems into fully automated lines. For our nozzles and nozzle heads alone, our portfolio includes a large number of different variants for static or rotating systems for many different applications. That's why we can often cover the requirements of new applications with existing solutions, with the appropriate minor adjustments," explained Lukas Buske.

Many visitors brought ideas for new applications to the workshops or picked up ideas on how they could optimize their companies' production processes with Plasmatreat solutions based on the application examples shown here.

In order to enable efficient work in the interactive workshops, Plasmatreat had asked its guests about their main interests in advance of the Technology Days. This allowed them to be divided into smaller groups. As a result, each guest received their individual program at the start of the anniversary event.

The workshop "Perfect images: Plasma for demanding printing processes" in the PT-Print room at Plasmatreat's Technology Center. In addition to applications from packaging production, among others, the innovative production of a digitally printed, individualized sports shoe was a highlight of this workshop for many participants. In this process, the thermoplastic used is activated with open-air plasma and thus perfectly prepared for printing with UV ink. Innovative nozzle technology, in the form of a new nozzle for print applications, was also in focus.

The workshop "REDOX effect: reduction to high-performance coating" showed how oxidized and contaminated metal surfaces are cleaned in the semiconductor industry so that they subsequently meet the highest requirements in the manufacture of electronic components. Here too, plasma systems and the reduction process were demonstrated live.

The workshop "Rethinking cleaning: from open-air plasma to HydroPlasma" dealt with a world first from Plasmatreat. In this innovation from the company, distilled water is added to a plasma jet, which further increases the effectiveness of the plasma treatment. Using small metal plates contaminated with fingerprints, the experts demonstrated that even the most stubborn contaminants such as oils, salts and grease can be reliably removed with HydroPlasma - without the use of wet chemistry and detectable with measuring devices.

As the topic "Innovative technology and future-oriented coatings" of another workshop in the main building already said, it was about the PlasmaPlus technology PT-Bond. It can be used to apply wafer-thin coatings to materials by injecting gaseous precursors into the plasma jets in special plasma nozzles. The plasma enriched in this way then hits the surfaces previously treated with open-air plasma technology and selectively coats them with wafer-thin, transparent plasma-polymer layers. These can be adhesion promoter layers for structural bonding or corrosion protection, barrier and insulation layers. One example shown at the workshop was a thermoforming application in which sheet metal was coated with a wafer-thin protective layer - instead of a film - to prevent the sheet metal from scratching. This is just one example of the many areas of application in which plasma technology can replace consumables - which has a positive impact on both operating costs and the sustainability of processes.

The topic of corrosion protection was also the subject of a separate workshop entitled "AntiCorr as a protective shield for surfaces". It took place in the contract coating department, which Plasmatreat carries out here for customers. In this workshop, it was demonstrated how a customer's battery tray made of die-cast and continuous-cast aluminum was precision-cleaned in the first step and then coated with AntiCorr. A robot equipped with an open-air plasma nozzle and a PlasmaPlus nozzle was used for this. In this process, the battery tray was effectively protected against infiltration corrosion with minimal use of precursors.

It had already become increasingly clear during the technical presentations that assembly bonding is becoming the preferred joining technology in more and more industrial sectors. The example given by Lukas Buske of the complete bonding of all elements of car bodies showed just how far development has come in this area. The workshop "Plasma meets polymer: efficient activation for maximum adhesion" in the Application Technology Laboratory dealt with further impressive examples. There were eight workshops in total, which dealt with the status quo and the future of plasma technology in various application areas.

"Our universe consists of around 98% plasma. In other words, plasma is the rule in the universe, whereas we humans are an exception," said Christian Buske. As a pioneer in atmospheric plasma generated under normal pressure, Plasmatreat is the first point of contact for industrial companies in countless sectors in the field of plasma technology. This also explains the enormous popularity of the Technology Days 2025, which resulted in many specific projects relating to new plasma applications.

Plasma technology developed by Plasmatreat has become indispensable in the electronics industry, in medical and aerospace technology, in packaging and battery production and in many other industrial sectors. For the company's globally active customers, one decisive aspect is that Plasmatreat has a worldwide presence with its agencies and around 320 employees and is therefore located close to them.

At this year's K trade fair (October 8 - 15, 2025 in Düsseldorf / Germany), Plasmatreat will be showcasing the latest plasma applications for the plastics industry at its stand in Hall 11 (Stand I 65) - the next opportunity for the company's customers and interested parties to talk to its experts about the latest trends in plasma pretreatment in this market segment and discuss new potential applications. (OM-7/25)