Ultra-thin, gas-tight coatings for PET bottles

If polymers are specifically made to form and deposit on the surfaces surrounding the plasma, they can be coated in a targeted manner. Thanks to this so-called plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, or PECVD for short, it is possible, for example, to apply ultra-thin, gas-tight coatings to the inside of PET bottles, ensuring that the contents last longer, or to protect organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) from moisture so that the TV screens work for a long time. The teams of General Electrical Engineering and Plasma Technology and Experimental Physics II of Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) have perfected this technique. They report in Rubin, the RUB's science magazine.