Flame treatment is a proven and uncomplicated process for the pre-treatment of plastics, metals and glass surfaces. It allows precise control of activation and, with the addition of silane, is suitable for meeting even the strictest requirements.
The principle of flame treatment is quite simple. A flame of up to 1,800°C passes over the part to be treated. Oxygen and combustion products such as CO₂ and H₂O are partially present in the flame in an activated form. These highly reactive radicals (e.g. O, OH) can break up the long-chain molecules in the surface of the treated part and bind to the break points.
This creates polar components in the molecules, which increases the surface tension and wettability. By breaking up the long-chain molecules, the printing ink can also bind better to the surface. Other processes that take place on the surface during flame treatment include invisible roughening and a certain cleaning effect.
Arcogas® flame treatment systems allow an even more specialised activation of the surfaces to be treated, whereby the adhesive properties can be improved even more specifically. This is done by adding certain gases or precursors.
By adding a silane compound as an adhesion promoter (arcosil® process), extremely thin silicate layers just a few nanometres thick can be produced, which have very good adhesive properties.
The flame treatment roughens the surface. This is so small that it is only detectable on a microscopic scale, but enables better mechanical anchoring.
We offer flame treatment systems that are precisely customised to your needs – from laboratory operation to large-scale production. These are easily operated with commercially available gases (natural gas, propane, butane).
Standard flame treatment systems consist generally of a control unit and one or more burners. The performance characteristics of the control unit as well as the number and configuration of the burners have to be specified with respect to the application.
Yes, for flame treatment of small batches we offer FTM systems for manual flame treatment. Our FTM system is also suitable for use in the laboratory, for repairs or as a standby solution.
Pre-treatment can be carried out using chemical substances, but these are highly reactive and therefore hazardous to the environment and health. In addition, the unavoidable waste has to be disposed of at great cost. These disadvantages can be avoided by using flame treatment instead of chemical processes.
We therefore believe that physical processes are the better alternative. The surface is activated either by means of a corona system, plasma or flame treatment.
Arcotec offers you the technical systems for all four process groups (silica coating, corona, plasma and flame treatment) so that the optimum solution can be found for every application. Simply contact us and we will be happy to advise you on flame treatment and all other potential solutions for your production!
But why do materials need to be pre-treated at all? Adhesives and paints adhere poorly to many modern plastics, but also to metal or glass surfaces, as their surface energy is low. Contamination often occurs during production, for example through greases. This problem affects not only films, but also moulded parts. The flame treatment achieves precision cleaning and an increase in surface energy. This can significantly improve the adhesive properties
