Deposition of a ceramic coating on a thermoplastic polymer by atmospheric plasma and laser cladding

Alumina powder was deposited on a thermoplastic polymer using an atmospheric plasma and laser (CO2, lambda=10.6 mu m). The results have shown that a mechanical anchorage of the ceramic exists on the surface of the polymer, regardless of the technique used or different ceramic structures. In addition, the morphology of the poly(ethyleneterephthalate) changes during the treatments and the polymer crystallizes. Hence, different techniques were used to investigate the morphological changes (crystallization and amorphization) by X-ray analysis (wide-angle X-ray diffraction) and to observe the structural modifications by microindentation hardness testing. In this way, knowledge of the morphology of the material after laser cladding or plasma spraying enables us to characterize the mechanical properties of the samples.