Project: EFRE Invest 2021 

 

Project objective:

The investment in a plasma coating system and a mould carrier as well as the necessary analysis and testing equipment will sustainably support and secure the expansion of research expertise at the St. Veit an der Glan site. Questions about material development and the associated manufacturing processes can thus be answered more comprehensively and in a more targeted manner. The investments will be used to research these processes, supported by integrated sensor technology, which will subsequently make it possible to create a digital twin of the materials. This will make new project developments possible in the region and internationally. In line with the RTI strategy and the smart specialisation of the province of Carinthia, the topics of sustainability, material sciences and production technologies are supported in the environment of digitalisation and Industry 4.0 and the competitiveness of the region and the local economy is increased with the research service provided.

 

Project result:

The investment in a plasma coating system should be highlighted as a highlight. Plasma technology, a key technology (KET), can serve as an interface between wood and the digital world in the future and thus provide solutions to the issues that arise in the course of the megatrends of digitalisation, shy tech and bioeconomy. Plasma technology as an environmentally friendly, resource-efficient alternative to the harmful, wet-chemical coating processes in the wood-based materials sector has developed very strongly in recent years. Five years ago, it would not have been possible to deposit nanolayers under atmospheric pressure using plasma. Today, technologies exist that enable plasma-assisted coating processes without changing the chemistry of the starting substances. This is unique in coating technology and opens up new research and development approaches. To achieve the goals, the investment in a new plasma coating system was done. This will make it possible to research and develop different formulations that can be introduced into the plasma stream as precursors (gaseous, liquid or powder) to deposit functional coatings on a wide variety of wood-based materials.

 

The development and application of innovative surfaces also requires further analytical equipment. With additional investment in special electrical resistance measuring devices, the functional surfaces can be characterised with regard to their electrical layer properties.

 

Atmospheric pressure plasma device for the polymerisation and deposition of functional thin films at the St. Veit location 

 

Funding programme:

EFRE - Regionale Impulsförderung

 

Duration:

June 2021 – March 2023

 

Contact:

Herfried Lammer, h.lammer@wood-kplus.at

 

The project is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the province of Carinthia.