Enhanced Wetting and Adhesive Properties by Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Surface Treatment Methods and Investigation Processes on the Influencing Parameters on HIPS Polymer

The development of bonding technology and coating technologies require the use of modern materials and topologies for the demanding effect and modification of their wetting properties. For the industry, a process modification process that can be integrated into a process is the atmospheric pressure of air operation plasma surface treatment. This can be classified and evaluated based on the wettability, which has a significant impact on the adhesive force. The aim is to improve the wetting properties and to find the relationship between plasma treatment parameters, wetting, and adhesion. High Impact PolyStyrene (HIPS) was used as an experimental material, and then the plasma treatment can be treated with various adjustable parameters. The effect of plasma parameters on surface roughness, wetting contact angle, and using Fowkes theory of the surface energy have been investigated. Seven different plasma jet treatment distances were tested, combined with 5 scan speeds. Samples with the best plasma parameters were prepared from 25 mm × 25 mm overlapping adhesive joints using acrylic/cyanoacrylate. The possibility of creating a completely hydrophilic surface was achieved, where the untreated wetting edge angle decreased from 88.2° to 0° for distilled water and from 62.7° to 0° in the case of ethylene glycol. The bonding strength of High Impact PolyStyrene was increased by plasma treatment by 297%.