Investigation of the effect of environment friendly atmospheric pressure cold plasma application on bond strength of POM and PP materials

Abstract

Polyoxymethylene (POM) and polypropylene (PP) materials are mass production thermo-plastics that are frequently used in the automotive industry. In many applications, these materials with low surface energy are prepared for bonding by mechanical abrasion or wiping with alcohol-based cleaners. The usability of the Cold Atmospheric Pressure Plasma (CAPP) method has been experimentally investigated in this study, instead of these preparation methods, which are bad for the environment. Increasing the surface energies of materials with plasma application has been a known method for a long time, but applications in vacuum environment have become possible under atmospheric pressure in recent years. In this way, the effectiveness of the method has remained the same, while its application and cost have improved. Experimental studies of the APP method to contribute to research in applications such as painting and bonding have been explained and it has been shown that the method can be an alternative for bonding applications of POM and PP materials, especially in the automotive sector. Considering that the APP method is an environmentalist process, it is understood that it will be an alternative in bonding of POM and PP materials.