NSU Physics Department Student Develops Desktop Plasma Activator for 3D Printing and Electronics

A 4th-year student of the Physics Faculty at Novosibirsk State University Andrey Orlov with the support of the NSU startup studio, became the winner of the “Student Startup” competition with a project to create a desktop plasma surface activator. The device is designed for preparing parts and boards for painting, bonding, and soldering using cold plasma, without the use of vacuum, gas cylinders, or chemical reagents. The development is being carried out within a grant from the Innovation Promotion Fund, the funds of which are intended for the creation of a working prototype of the device.

Andrey developed an interest in plasma technologies while working at Laboratory 4.2 of the S. S. Kutateladze Institute of Thermophysics, where he engaged in numerical simulation of plasma. Together with two classmates, he prepared a report for the International Scientific Student Conference, which is held annually at NSU.

— At some point, I became curious about where and how plasma is used elsewhere. After reading scientific papers, I came across the term “dielectric barrier discharge.” This topic interested me because the discharge occurs without any vacuum at all. I also read articles about antimicrobial treatment through active particles — this is a related field, but it greatly increased my interest; it seemed very promising to me., — says Andrey.

The choice of a specific niche — surface preparation of plastic parts and boards — was driven by a practical need: a classmate of mine has a 3D printer, and the issue of poor adhesion of paint and glue to printed parts is a daily challenge faced by everyone who does not have vacuum equipment.

The device under development is based on a dielectric barrier discharge, which ignites directly in the air at normal atmospheric pressure. A gap of 3–5 mm is maintained between a metal electrode covered with a ceramic or glass dielectric and the processed part, after which an alternating high voltage up to 10 kV at a frequency of 10–20 kHz is applied. Cold plasma arises in the gap — the gas remains at room temperature, the part does not heat up or melt, and active particles form on its surface, making the material wettable.

— You place your part in the chamber, and after the selected time, the surface becomes wettable: paint, glue, and coatings adhere much better, — explains Andrey Orlov.

There are currently no direct Russian equivalents of a desktop atmospheric plasma activator with a closed chamber and automatic cycle. Foreign automated solutions are either vacuum systems or units requiring gas cylinders. They are bulky, quite expensive—the price ranges from 600,000 to 1.6 million rubles—non-environmentally friendly, as they use chemical reagents and solvents during operation. Additionally, specially trained personnel are required for their use and maintenance. Existing handheld activators only allow for spot treatment and are not suitable for working with circuit boards and batches of parts.

— The difference of the installation we are developing is that we operate at normal atmospheric pressure, without vacuum and gas, in a closed chamber with a repeatable timer cycle, — emphasizes Andrey.

The project is being carried out by a team of three students from the Physics Department of NSU, all of whom are also employees of Laboratory 4.2 at the S. S. Kutateladze Institute of Thermophysics. The scientific supervisor is Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Vladimir Alexandrovich Andryushchenko.

The roles in the team are distributed as follows: Andrey Orlov (Department of Physics of Technical Systems, FTI) acts as the project manager, works on the discharge system, and conducts tests. Pavel Kovalenko (Department of Automation of Physical and Technical Research, AFTI) is responsible for the design — the casing, assembly, and sample holders. Lev Kvasnikov (Department of AFTI) handles the circuitry, primarily the high-voltage converter: he already has experience assembling similar ZVS converters.

Work on the project has been ongoing since early 2026, when the team began preparing to apply for a grant. At the moment, the team has completed the first stage: the technical specifications have been developed and calculated, the principal schematic of the high-voltage converter and the concept of the discharge system are ready, and consultations with experts have been conducted to verify that the parameters of the future device meet the required standards.

The grant funds will be allocated to the team’s salaries, procurement of assembly materials, measuring equipment, as well as payment for external contractors’ services—including circuit board manufacturing, assistance from a patent attorney for filing a utility model application, and accounting support.

— By the end of the grant period, working prototypes should be completed and tested, — Andrey says. — The immediate goal is to bring the prototype to a level where it solves the stated task. Next — launching pilot installations with several partners and making sales. 

A plasma activator is in demand in instrument engineering and microelectronics, in small-scale production and workshops working with plastics and composites. A separate niche is 3D printing, as parts from the printer often do not paint or glue well without surface preparation.

— Currently, our potential consumers face a choice between not very safe chemicals and expensive imported vacuum equipment. We offer them an affordable alternative solution., — summarizes Andrey Orlov.

The project is supported by the Foundation for Assistance to Innovations under the “Student Startup” program of the “University Technology Entrepreneurship Platform” event of the federal project “Technologies.”