PLUME offers an innovative, cold plasma based process for the surface treatment of flexible filtration media. A typical application is the separation of immiscible liquids, like oil and water. Such technology could be applied to different polymeric materials: fabrics, nonwovens or membranes, with different filtration degree, depending on the use. The strengths of the proposed technology are:
Sustainability
Through a low environmental impact process, it is possible to treat filtration material without any thermal degradation. No solvent, additives or coating are used, saving energy, materials and costs.
Increase of filter efficiency and lifespan
The efficiency and lifespan of filtering materials can be increased thanks to adecreased surface fouling and a strongly enhanced hydrophilicity of filtering surface
Process versatility
Through a proper selection of plasma parameters and the structure of the filtering materials, it is possible to successfully separate different emulsions, particularly made of aqueous solutions and oils or hydrocarbons
Sustainability
Through a low environmental impact process, it is possible to treat filtration material without any thermal degradation. No solvent, additives or coating are used, saving energy, materials and costs.
Increase of filter efficiency and lifespan
The efficiency and lifespan of filtering materials can be increased thanks to adecreased surface fouling and a strongly enhanced hydrophilicity of filtering surface
Process versatility
Through a proper selection of plasma parameters and the structure of the filtering materials, it is possible to successfully separate different emulsions, particularly made of aqueous solutions and oils or hydrocarbons
OUR TECHNOLOGY
We developped low-pressure plasma processes, designed for technical fabrics or polymeric membranes for filtration. These processes allow modifying the morphology and surface energy of filtration media, giving them the capability of efficiently separate two immiscible liquids (i.e. water/hydrocarbon). As a matter of fact, modified fabrics and membranes are able to selectively allow the passage of one liquid (typically water) retaining the other, avoiding a sudden performance downfall, due to fouling phenomenon, as it often happens with conventional filtration media. It is possible to select porosity of filtration media based on intended use, like free oil separation and emulsion break up. Plasma processes are carried out in a vacuum chamber, in a batch roll-to-roll mode.
The obtained filter can find application in fields such as wastewater treatment, Oil&Gas and automotive.
We can offer the following products:
Membrane or technical fabric treatments
The treatment of filtering fabrics or membrane for cross-flow filtration allows to expand module lifespan, increase the permeate flux and reduce fouling
Physic-morphological analyses
Physic-morphological analyses of filtering materials through contact angle measurements and atom force microscopy analysis (AFM)
Customized solutions
We study customized solutions to specific filtration problems related to the physics and the chemistry of filtration media
FIELD OF APPLICATION – Plasma surface treatment of filtration materials
