○  In this period we performed an activation study using the plasma reactor we designed and built in the previous months.
The chosen material was medical grade polyethylene. For more information please see the results page "May...August 2013".
The results were presented at the international conference "Processes in Isotopes and Molecules" PIM-2013, September 25...27. The presented poster can be viewed here:
We also wrote a paper with the title: "Improving the mechanical properties of polyethylene orthopaedic implants by high frequency cold plasma surface activation", authors: Cristian D. Tudoran, Iulia E. Vlad, Dorin N. Dadarlat and Sorin D. Anghel. This paper was accepted for publishing by the American Institute of Physics, AIP, conference series. The article can be read by accessing the "Published Papers" page.

 

○ We designed and built the first prototype version of the cold plasma microreactor which will be used to generate bio-diesel fuel starting from vegetable oil. Also, we built another cold plasma applicator working in helium under atmospheric pressure conditions, which is intended to be used in applications were the materials are thermosensitive, for example in bio-medical applications.

○ We are still working on a specialized plasma applicator that will be used to obtain superhydrophobic and superhidrophillic surfaces, with practical applications. (i.e corrosion resistance and improving the performances of the instruments manufactured from brass or similar alloys).
○ In order to characterize the power efficiency of our plasma generators and also of the cold plasma reactor chambers, we decided to write our own software application named "Data Logger". With this application we record a series of electrical parameters, like voltages, current intensities, absorbed power, power factor, etc. Figure 1 presents a screenshot of the main window of our "Data Logger" app. The electrical parameters measured by the application are provided by a digital power meter, manufactured by "Algodue Elettronica", Italy. More information about our "Data Logger" app can be found in the article
"Smart metering application for power efficiency studies", authors: Cristian D. TUDORAN, Stefan Albert, Dorin N. Dadarlat, Carmen Tripon and Sorin Dan Anghel. The full text can be found on the"Published Papers" page.
Figure 1. The screenshot of our "Data Logger" application.


○ In order to test the superior bonding properties of the plasma activated polymeric materials, we designed and built a simple mechanical sample breaking stand. The bonded samples are tested for stretching effort until the bonded junction starts to delaminate or the material itself breaks. With the help of a digital dynamometer we record the values of the tractive effort required to break the bonded samples. We perform these measurements for both untreated and plasma treted samples. Figure 2 presents the completed sample breaking press.

Figure 2. Our sample breaking press.