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The Science and Analysis of Materials department (SAM) of the CRP - Gabriel Lippmann and the Advanced Materials and Structures department (AMS) of the CRP - Henri Tudor organized, with support from the National Research Fund (FNR), an international workshop entitled “Plasma Days” on plasma treatments and potential applications of this technique. This event took place at the Conference Centre of the Chamber of Business Luxembourg, from the 5th to 7th July 2010. Over sixty participants attended this workshop, including world-renowed researchers in the field of plasma such as Dr Thierry Belmonte, from the Institut Jean Lamour Nancy, or Prof. Jas Pal S. Badyal, from the English University of Durham, who presented their latest work.
Creation of improved materials
For Luxembourg, this conference is the outcome of a project entitled TRASU, funded by the FNR and conducted by the two research centres over the past four years. The results of this project will be presented during this workshop. The aim of this project was to develop, in cooperation with other European laboratories and industrial partners in Luxembourg, innovative surfaces optimized by applying a plasma treatment. This technology consists in ionizing a gas such as nitrogen, argon or air, then submitting it to an electric field to make it conductive. This plasma, applied to the surface of a material in the presence of one or more chemical precursors, can lead to the development of a very thin layer with hydrophobic or adhesive properties to form composite materials. This technique also provides optimized surfaces that can resist to corrosion.
A process with industrial potential
Over ten companies were involved throughout the development of the TRASU project. The results convinced nearly half of them. They have thus wished to continue their investments in order to transfer this technology to their industrial applications. This will lead to the creation of "greener" products, particularly in the automotive and electronics sectors. Plasma treatments can also lead to the development of "smart" surfaces such as anti-counterfeiting or reactive materials whose colour varies when in contact with a dangerous gas, or after an abrupt change in temperature. This type of application will be particularly adapted to new industrial problems, or new environmental constraints.