Abstract
Residuals of lubricants adhere as very thin layers of hydrocarbons to the surfaces of cold rolled aluminium foil. Subsequent processing of the foil requires a cleaning process. In this study, a new approach to degrease the aluminium is examined that employs an atmospheric pressure plasma treatment of the surface. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is used to detect hydrocarbon layers on the surface of aluminium foil. The detected carbon content is a measure of the amount of residual lubricants remaining on the surface. Before any treatment, the proportion of carbon on the foil surface amounts to 19% corresponding to a lubricant layer thickness of 3-3 nm. Plasma degreasing reduces the carbon proportion to ~6% corresponding to a layer thickness of 1-3 nm. With conventional heating, there is a layer thickness of ~1 nm remaining on the foil surface. Still, the plasma degreasing is a less time and energy consuming cleaning process.