IDEA #1WLKJ8 Plasma Technology For Functional Coating Of Anilox Rolls

PLASMA TECHNOLOGY FOR FUNCTIONAL COATING OOFF ANILOX ROLLS TECHNOLOGY AND EQUIPMENT APPLIED RESEARCH • PLASMAPHYSICS AND TECHNOLOGY Description The anilox rolls, cylindrical components that are the key ele(cid:2) ments of aniline ink distribution systems widely use at the printing industry for processing of paper and textile materials and have all growing markets. The Institute of New Materials and Technologies (INMT), Ukrainian Academy of Sciences (UAS), Kiev, Ukraine developed novel plasma (cid:2)based function(cid:2) al coating laboratory facility for the ion(cid:2)plasma treatment of anilox rolls. This equipment includes pre(cid:2)heating, ion cleaning and polishing, followed by magnetron sputtering with a subse(cid:2) quent deposition of a variety of functional coatings onto cylin(cid:2) drical(cid:2)type substrates. The equipment is based on recent developments in plasma science, and is particularly suitable for the deposition of qualitative metallic (e.g. Cu, Ti, Zr) and ceramic (TiN, TiC, ZrN) coatings onto the working surfaces of treated substrates. The purpose of the treatment is to increase the wear and corrosion resistance of the rolls and to decrease the wetting when used with working liquids. The developed facility consists of a vacuum chamber pumped by a high(cid:2)vacuum turbo(cid:2)molecular pump, inside of which is housed a heat radiation system, ion surface cleaning device plus a cylindrical magnetron sputtering system driven by external power supplies and associated electronics. A real time process monitoring system selected some optical lines pro(cid:2) vides automatically permanent monitoring and control of the synthesis of the functional coatings. The equipment enables simultaneous or consequent performing the processes: ion cleaning by means of sputtering the surface of treated sample and deposition of required metal or ceramic layer onto proto(cid:2) type of anilox rollers. The internal components are coaxially disposed so that an anilox rolls to be processed can be trans(cid:2) ferred along the axis by means of a drive mechanism, initially into a heating chamber, then into the ion(cid:2)plasma cleaning region and finally into the film deposition region where coating is done by a cylindrical magnetron located on a turntable. Innovative Aspect and Main Advantages The main methods of coating deposition on working surfaces of anilox rollers are the galvanic deposition and plasma spraying. For the present time forefront investigations are carried out for application of vacuum(cid:2)plasma technologies to replace above mentioned approaches for further improvement of printing qual(cid:2) ity and enhancement environmental compatibility. By incorpo(cid:2) rating a plasma(cid:2)based ion cleaning stage into the single techno(cid:2) logical process, the film(cid:2)substrate adhesion is increased and the overall production time is reduced. We point out also that by using a plasma(cid:2)based approach to surface cleaning we avoid the environmental contamination problems of chemical(cid:2)based cleaning and deposition methods. Areas ooff Application The areas of application are an advanced anilox rolls produc(cid:2) tion. The results of our fundamental R&D program involving experimental and technical studies for the elaboration and fabrication of a new generation plasma devices are suitable for processing of anilox rolls in wide range diameters and lengths with fine grained coating structure. The same techno(cid:2) logical process can also be used as a final treatment after laser engraving for deposition hard, wear(cid:2)resistant, functional coatings on rollers surface. Fig.2. Ion cleaning device. Fig.1. Laboratory coating facility. Fig.3. Magnetron sput(cid:2) tering unit. Fig.4. TiN coating of a test roller. Stage ooff Development The elaborated unique laboratory facility has some know(cid:2)how. This facility was checked for deposition TiN coating on tested roller. The coating has fine grain and hardness of the stoichio(cid:2) metric TiN layer. We have made in deep patent search in differ(cid:2) ent countries, including USA, EU and Russia and believe that these things are patent able and can be protected. We can design, fabricate, test and deliver a pilot industrial prototype of the plasma(cid:2)based coating technology described Contact Details Dr. Alexey Goncharov Institute of New Materials and Technologies (INMT), Ukrainian Academy of Sciences (UAS) Address: 13 Semashko Str. Kiev, 03142, Ukraine Tel/Fax: (38(cid:2)044) 525(cid:2)23(cid:2)29 (38044) 423(cid:2)8254 E(cid:2)mail: gonchar@iop.kiev.ua, demch@iptelecom.net.ua INNOVATIVETECHNOLOGY OPPORTUNITIES FROM THE STCU 37