The purpose of corona or plasma surface treatment of polymer-based materials is to increase surface wettability through electrical discharge. The low surface energy of polymer-based substrates often leads to poor adhesion of inks, glues and coatings. To obtain optimum adhesion, it is necessary to increase the surface energy of the substrate to just above that of the material to be applied. Surface Treatment with either Corona or Plasma results in good wetting of the material over the surface of the substrate and so improves adhesion.

For optimum adhesion when printing, gluing or coating on various substrates, it is necessary to obtain a high surface energy. Determining the surface energy can be achieved by measuring contact-angle or by use of Tantec Surface Energy Test Inks - DyneTEC.

This form of measurement is based on the ASTM method for measuring the surface energy of polyethylene film. When the test ink is applied to the surface, it will either form a continuous film on the surface or pull back into small droplets. If the liquid remains as a film for 3 seconds, the substrate will have a minimum surface energy of that ink value. Should the ink reticulate, the surface energy of the substrate is lower than that of the ink. The exact surface energy can be determined by applying a range of increasing or decreasing values of test ink.

The inks are available in 2mN/m increments from 30-58mN/m – including 72 mN/m and can be supplied in 20ml glass bottles with integral brush applicator.

DyneTEC Test Ink for Measuring Surface Energy

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