Rodríguez-Villanueva, CarlosEncinas García, NoemíAbenojar, JuanaMartínez, Miguel Ángel2024-02-072024-02-072013Rodríguez-Villanueva C, Encinas N, Abenojar J, Martinez MA. Assessment of atmospheric plasma treatment cleaning effect on steel surfaces. Surf Coat Technol. 2013 Dec 15;236:450-4560257-897210.1016/j.surfcoat.2013.10.036https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/99862Financial support from the BSH Electrodomésticos España S.A., the Fundación Universidad Carlos III de Madrid and the Instituto Tecnológico de Química y Materiales “Álvaro Alonso Barba” is acknowledged. The authors also acknowledge the Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology Group (Mechanical Engineering Department, Universidad Pontificia Comillas-ICAI) for the opportunity to perform the ATR–FTIR experimentsThe present study deals with the ability of an atmospheric pressure air plasma torch (APPT) treatment to remove lubricant pollutants coming from machining processes on steel surfaces. This effect has been characterized by contact angle measurements, gravimetric analysis and reflection absorption infrared reflectance spectroscopy (RAIR-FTIR). Attending to the initial results of the investigation, further surface analysis has been done by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). In order to define the benefits of cleaning for adhesive bonding processes, pull-off tests were performed on all the coupons. Experimental data show the effectiveness of APPT to achieve not only a high rate of surface lubricant layer elimination, thus cleaning the metal samples by means of a solvent free and fast treatment, but also a remarkable improvement on the substrate adhesive bonding strength.engAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/journal articlehttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.surfcoat.2013.10.036restricted access62066.0Atmospheric pressure plasmaSurface energyMetal surface cleaningXPS analysisAdhesionIngeniería químicaMateriales3303 Ingeniería y Tecnología Químicas3312 Tecnología de Materiales