Plasma treatment for digital and pad printing

Andreas Weber, a printing and textile finishing company, repeatedly encountered problems with the adhesion of printing ink on plastic and glass products as well as on chrome-plated materials. While searching for a solution to this quality problem, Mr Weber came across the advantages of plasma treatment for digital and pad printing.

After a detailed consultation on the advantages and disadvantages of atmospheric pressure plasma treatment versus corona treatment, Mr Weber opted for plasma treatment using the PiezoBrush PZ3 hand-held plasma device.

Plasma treatment before customised printing

To test the process with its own materials and products, the print shop started with a rental of the PiezoBrush PZ3. Extensive tests showed that it offers clear advantages. Plasma treatment in digital UV LED flatbed printing and pad printing achieves ultra-fine cleaning of the printing surface and removes the smallest dust particles and impurities, resulting in a significant improvement in adhesion. Mr Weber emphasises in particular: ‘For the plasma treatment, we only have to go over the surface very briefly with a hand movement, as if we were drawing a line. That works very well.’

The video opposite shows the plasma treatment of a plastic box that was later printed with a personalised design. It is only thanks to the prior plasma treatment that the print later withstands the scratch test.

Furthermore, an improvement was also observed in the plasma treatment of glass substrates. The combination of plasma treatment and primer also enables a very good improvement in adhesion here.