Starfire Industries

Starfire Industries, working in partnership with General Motors and the University of Illinois under a DOE research grant, is developing a new material coating system employing an innovative atmospheric cold microwave plasma jet for use on dissimilar material joints. This method provides a single, cost-effective, high-volume production process that meets the requirements of multi-material combinations used in the energy-intensive transportation industry. By eliminating what are known as “wet chemistry” steps used in current corrosion protection methods, this technique helps create a single coating substrate and single adhesive – enabling vehicle weight reduction. It also reduces energy consumption, wastewater effluent disposal, and offsite transportation costs associated with wet-chemical treatments.