Treatments / Plasma Ceramics

Plasma Ceramics

Plasma ceramic developed by ELB is the surface technology of the future. It is also known as nanoceramics or PEO (Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation) technology.

The micro-crosslinked, atomically bonded, and nanostructured surface created in the plasma ceramic process depicts one of the five hardest materials in the world. The flexible layer withstands high stress that would cause conventional ceramics or other hard coatings to fail.

Due to the atomical bonding, the layer can withstand loads up to 1,000 times higher than conventional anodized aluminum. The almost indestructible corundum layer does not change the volume nor the weight of the light metal. The properties such as ductility and plasticity, given by the substrate material, are completely reproduced.

The parameters of CERANOD^® plasma ceramics can be specifically adapted to any application case. The layer thickness of the resulting homogeneous coating can be defined in the range of about 8 µm to 200 µm. This precise adaptation to the application enables clearly defined physical, mechanical, and functional properties.

Compared to hard anodizing, the corrosion and heat resistance as well as the abrasion resistance are significantly improved.

• light metals with a sealed CERANOD^® surface withstand more than 2,000 hours in salt spray tests without showing significant traces of corrosion. Even the unsealed layer lasts more than 500 hours on some alloys.
• The CERANOD^® coating also has excellent heat resistance and can withstand temperatures of up to 2,000 °C for short periods of time without any changing of the coating. By that the entire component can withstand a brief temperature shock without impairing the plasma ceramic layer.
• The hardness of magnesium PEO is in the range up to 1,100 HV and of aluminum PEO up to 2,400 HV.

Due to its structure, nanoceramics are suitable for further treatment such as cold or hot sealing with PTFE, adhesive joints or industrial coatings, for instance powder coating or electro-dip coating treatments.

CERANOD^® plasma ceramic surfaces show two orders of magnitude higher wear resistance than hard anodized surfaces. They can also be applied to a wider range of alloys. Depending on the base material, the achieved surface provides up to three times higher hardness than hard anodized surfaces, accompanied by very low roughness values. Targeted roughness adjustments are possible and increase the range of applications. In addition, CERANOD^® plasma ceramics offer particularly high corrosion protection. This allows you to use light metals such as magnesium where it was previously unthinkable due to the strong corrosion tendency of this light metal with its high strength-to-density ratio.

The areas of application of plasma ceramics are:

• aerospace
• medical and pharmaceutical industry
• printing and packaging
• robotics and automation
• fibre and textile production
• automotive sector
• oil, gas and chemical industries
• architecture and building technology
• machinery and special machinery