Abstract:
The application of atmospheric plasma to
improve printability on transparency sheets is presented in this
paper. Printing on polymer substrates like Polyethylene,
polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Poly propylene have become
a challenge as the adhesion of ink, dyes or toner onto these
surfaces are poor as they have low polar functional group
densities on the surface. PET based transparency sheets were
plasma treated using atmospheric plasma. The degree of surface
modification was investigated by using contact angle
measurements of water on the surface. The effect of plasma
treatment on the printing quality was measured by image
analysis techniques and tape tests. It was observed that there
was a significant improvement in toner fixing after plasma
treatments.