Ireland-based PlasmaBound, was spun-out in 2017 from University College Dublin by Alan Barry (CEO), Dr. James Nicholas Barry (CTO) & Xavier Montibert (CSO). Described as an “automation machinery manufacturing company”, PlasmaBound is on a mission to “lightweight automotive, aerospace & space industries”. [Quick primer: “lightweighting” is reducing product weight, via the substitution of heavy (often metal) components, with lighter, ideally stronger materials, such as fiber-reinforced composites (note: reduced product weight also decreases associated running costs & emissions)]. PlasmaBound does so by “pretreating” composite materials so they can be more easily integrated into structural assembly lines. Specifically, PlasmaBound has developed a patent-pending technology, to enable high-speed bonding of composite materials in a manner where it will effectively take on a role similar to welding in metals. To do so, PlasmaBound have modified a mature technology “Atmospheric Cold Plasma” (compressed air) & retasked it from an “activation” to an “ablation”, causing no heat affected zones, leaving no residue & revealing in a repeatable way undamaged fibers to act as an anchor matrix for structural adhesives (ensuring optimized interlocking scenarios). According to firm’s CEO “the adoption of sustainable & recyclable fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites, which are stronger & considerably lighter than both high-strength steel & aluminum, will intensify the need for PlasmaBound technology, which facilitates the structural adhesive joining of carbon & glass fiber reinforced composites at high speed”, “unlike our competitors, our tech can be delivered robotically, has peerless reliability stats for bond quality & crucially, is agnostic to whether the composite is recyclable or non-recyclable – a big & growing issue”. <Source: SiliconCanals.com>
