Plasma gas pre-treatment improves medical ink adhesion on plastic substrates with chemically inert and non-porous surfaces with low surface tension, which can be very difficult to print on.
CI Medical has a water-cooled, Nordson March plasma gas chamber in-house. Our proprietary five-gas surface treatment temporarily modifies the molecular surfaces of plastic substrates such as fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) to increase surface tension and promote permanent medical ink adhesion.
Plasma Treatment Comparisons
Below are photographs taken on CI Medical’s Mitutoyo Quickscope. On the left is a drop of distilled water on an untreated tube comprised of polypropylene. As you can see, there is low surface tension and the contact angle of the distilled water droplet is greater than 90 degrees.
The photograph on the right shows the same tube following plasma gas surface treatment. There is high surface tension and the contact angle of the distiller water droplet is less than 60 degrees, promoting superior medical ink adhesion.
