PR: Next-Generation Plasma Solutions for EV Batteries

Plasmatreat Enhances Battery Manufacturing with Advanced Surface Treatment Technologies
Adhesives offer several advantages over traditional metal fasteners and welding in battery manufacturing. They contribute to weight reduction in battery packs, crucial for extending electric vehicle range and enhancing energy efficiency. Adhesives also streamline assembly processes, reducing production time and labor costs while maintaining precision.

Plasmatreat specializes in surface treatment technologies that enhance adhesion and performance in adhesive bonding processes, particularly beneficial in battery manufacturing. This process effectively removes contaminants such as oils, dust, and oxides while generating reactive sites on surfaces, ensuring optimal bonding strength.

By modifying surface chemistry, Plasmatreat’s Openair-Plasma® technology enhances the surface energy of substrates, facilitating better wetting and spreading of adhesives for improved initial tack and overall adhesion performance. Their technology supports bonding between a wide range of materials used in batteries, including metals, composites, and plastics, enabling versatile adhesive applications across different components like electrodes and housing materials. Integrated into automated production lines, plasma treatment enhances process efficiency by reducing cycle times compared to traditional methods like chemical priming or mechanical abrasion. The controlled and uniform treatment by Plasmatreat ensures consistent bonding quality and reliability, aiding manufacturers in achieving higher yield rates and meeting stringent performance requirements for battery packs.

In cell-to-cell bonding (adhesion of individual cells to the battery module) plasma treatment activates the cell surfaces after the application of the coating or the film covering, thereby improving adhesion and increasing thermal conductivity. The adhesiveness of structural bonding in a battery module, e.g. of the side walls, can be increased through plasma treatment of the components. Plasma technology is also used for cleaning battery terminals before contact (wire bonding) and coating the overall housing of the battery module for active corrosion protection or treatment of power electronics before applying the protective coating (conformal coating).

Innovative Plasma Technology Showcased for Battery Applications
At the upcoming battery trade show in Detroit, Michigan, Plasmatreat will showcase cutting-edge plasma technology tailored for battery applications. They will highlight their Plasma Treatment Unit (PTU), integrated with Beckhoff Automation’s XPlanar Mover system, to demonstrate advanced surface treatments. Utilizing various nozzles and generators, the PTU effectively cleans and activates component surfaces, preparing themfor functional coatings like the PlasmaPlus® nanolayer, which offers superior anti-corrosion protection. "Our versatile equipment and handling systems enable us to deliver customized solutions that precisely meet our customers' process and production requirements," explains Hardev Grewal, President and CEO of Plasmatreat North America.

Systems and components that can integrate well, are highly reproducible and less harmful to the environment.
Plasmatreat’s Openair-Plasma® systems and system components can be integrated into existing production lines and require only pressurized air and electricity for operation. They represent an alternative that is less harmful to the environment. In battery manufacturing, for example, they replace solvent-containing processes in adhesion or aggressive chemical processes that are used to protect against corrosion, such as galvanization. Supplemented by the high-tech plasma control unit (PCU) and innovative add-on modules for monitoring and diagnosing all process parameters, Plasmatreat offers its customers seamless process controlling, consistently high quality and precise reproducibility of applications.

In conclusion, Plasmatreat’s technology is used by leading EV battery manufacturers worldwide. "We have gained extensive experience in battery production over the last decade and know the critical points. With our knowledge, we support our customers with the various requirements that arise in the respective process steps - contributing to better battery performance, leaner manufacturing processes and lower costs," explains Hardev Grewal.