Needle Hub Assembly Tensile Strength Increases with Atmospheric Plasma Surface Treatment

MENOMONEE FALLS, WI- Enercon’s Blown-ion™ atmospheric plasma treater is being used to promote adhesion on needle hubs used in the medical industry. The blown-ion discharge of the system effectively treats the inside of polypropylene hubs prior to bonding with needles.

Polypropylenes are often selected for their good mechanical properties, but they are a difficult-to-bond substrate since they are isotactic, have low surface polarity, an intermediate level of crystallinity, and no inherent surface roughness to which an adhesive can secure itself.

The Blown-ion™ plasma treater bombards the polypropylene surface with a high velocity discharge of ions which clean the surface of contaminants, micro-roughen the surface to create more bonding sites, and functionalize the surface for adhesion. Positive ion bombardment facilitates a micro-etching or scrubbing (ablation) effect to remove (desorb) organic and inorganic contaminants from the surface. The result is increased surface energy and wettability.

The plasma treater is available as a single or dual treatment head system. Each system is capable of high speed production and can be easily integrated into new and existing lines.

Enercon Industries Corporation, headquartered in Menomonee Falls, WI, is a major manufacturer of equipment for the plastics and packaging industries. The company supplies custom built atmospheric plasma treating systems for rolls, webs, sheets, and three dimensional objects.

Release date: 1/12/2010