Functional surfaces - Development of innovative products

9^th World Congress on Materials Science and Engineering

June 12-14, 2017 Rome, Italy

Aline Holder and Klaus Vissing

Festo AG & Co. KG, Germany
Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology - IFAM, Germany

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Material Sci Eng

Abstract :

Surfaces and their properties are playing an increasingly important role in industry application. In general, materials are used according to their property requirements such as elasticity, strength, heat resistance or to meet other requirements such as corrosion resistance. However, traditional surfaces are often not able to meet the ever increasing demands of today�´s applications in automotive, textile, medical and food industry. Thus, in recent years, advances have been made using functional coatings to exceed limitations of material to make surfaces more attractive for specific industry applications. Hygienic and efficient automation technologies are key aspects for a successful production process for example in the food and beverage industry. Requirements regarding the cleanability and durability of surfaces that are in food contact are important factors. The approach of this study was to design functional surfaces with easy to clean and/ or self-cleaning coatings that enable automation components to be easily or less cleaned. For coating procedure physical vapor deposition was carried out in order to facilitate separation of the vaporized coating material to the substrate. Substrates used are aluminum, stainless steel and plastics for example polyamide or polyethylene. Analytical description of surface characteristics was performed using scanning electron microscopy, contact angel and roughness. Different surfaces were successfully coated with easy to clean coatings and characterized analytically. In addition, coating of automation components consisting of different materials was realized and coating adhesion was improved. First application tests showed a clear improvement of material properties relating to chemical resistance and cleanability compared to todayâ��s standard materials used.

Biography :

Email: Aline.Holder@festo.com