Editor's Note: Each week, Rubber & Plastics News will take a look at some of the rubber industry's new products and innovations on www.rubbernews.com. Does your company have a new product or new innovation? To be considered for inclusion in this recurring feature, email [email protected]
Lanxess A.G. showcased materials used for the electrical/electronics industry at the recent Plastics in E&E Applications Congress in Germany.
The specialty chemicals company highlighted its halogen-free flame-retardant Pocan BFN grades, the highly reinforced polyamide 6 structural materials from the Durethan range and the Pocan HR polybutylene terephthalates developed for use in unnatural climatic conditions.
The firm also showcased new polyamides and polyesters for LED chip sockets, LED housing components and thermally conductive parts, according to Alexander Radeck, application development expert in the Lanxess High Performance Materials business unit.
The glass fiber content of the Pocan BFN halogen-free flame-retardant PBT compounds can be up to 30 percent, according to the company, which said it can provide a real alternative to PBT compounds with a halogen-based flame retardant package. The material demonstrates better thermal stability and higher tracking resistance and dielectric strength, Radeck said. With the glass fiber content, it is possible to attain a level of mechanical properties almost comparable to those of their equivalents with halogen-based flame retardance.
Highly reinforced polyamides offer several attributes, Lanxess said, in the design of very strong and stiff components for highly stressed applications. Despite their high degree of reinforcement, Radeck said, the materials are as free-flowing as standard polyamides that have a lower filler content, which is why they can also be used in thin-walled designs.The high-modulus products include low-distortion grades reinforced with glass microspheres and flame-retardant grades with a UL 94 V-0 classification, Lanxess claimed.
Materials used for LEDs and other lighting technology were highlighted, including one innovation for LED chips that comprises compounds based on polycyclohexylene dimethylene terephthalate, Lanxess said. The firm claimed these hardly age when subjected to thermal stresses, so compared to high-temperature polyamides, they retain their high reflectivity. Another benefit is a polyamide 6 that not only has high light reflectivity and thermal conductivity, but is also very flame-retardant, Radeck said.
Lanxess also unveiled its flame-retardant grade Pocan BF 4232 HR for safety-related components that need to remain functional in a hot and moist environment, such as under the hood. Their glass fiber contents range from 15 to 45 percent, Lanxess said, and it complies with fire safety standard UL 94 of the Underwriters Laboratories test institute in the U.S. in all the colors tested, with the best classification of V-0 for a test specimen being achieved from 0.4 millimeters thickness. The firm claimed the compound demonstrates its high hydrolysis resistance in climatic aging tests at 85°C and 85 percent relative humidity.
Details on the properties, applications and processing technologies of Durethan and Pocan can be found at www.durethan.com and www.pocan.com, or at lanxxess.com.
