Plasma physics and technology; industrial applications

Plasma technologies offer a wide spectrum of possible treatments of materials. In particular, in function of the peculiar physical characteristics of the plasma, produced by different ionisation systems, three types of processes on the materials can be activated: (1) Destruction of toxic/harmful materials; (2) Superficial modification of existing materials; (3) Creation of new materials. Thermal plasma can be used to destroy the solid, liquid and gaseous toxic halogenated and hazardous substances or to generate anticorrosion, thermal barriers, antiwear coatings, etc. Cold plasmas can be used for surface modifications of materials, ranging from the simple topographical changes to the creation of surface chemistries and coatings that are radically different with respect to the bulk material. Each of the three lines has a different weight with respect to an immediate industrial transferring. While the first two are ready for an immediate industrial utilisation of the processes, the third one is still under investigations. Some industrial processes will be described and, in the case of some treatments of toxic substances, a comparative cost analysis is presented. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.