Adhesion of Polypropylene Surfaces Treated by Cold Plasma

Polypropylene is widely used for car bumpers, since some of its limitations have been overcome by means of innovative processing. Cold plasma treatment represents an efficient, clean and economic alternative to activate polymeric surfaces. The present work deals with air cold plasma treatment of polypropylene surfaces. The influence of AC electrical discharge cold plasma parameters on adhesion of polymeric surfaces was studied. Polypropylene adhesion property was quantitatively characterized by a tensile test. The experimental results show that cold plasma treatment improves surface adhesion more than traditional flaming, that is the process commonly used by the automotive industry, does.