high temperature plastics | Innovation
6.35cm wide. The polymer withstands an autoclave temperature of 134°C and is chemically compatible with aggressive hospital disinfectants and cleansers. The 30% glass-filled grade used in this application provides high strength, ductility, and impact resistance, along with a UL 94 V0 flammability rating at 0.8 mm. There are two ranges of AvaSpire. The AV-600 series
is characterized by higher stiffness than PEEK at temperatures between 150 and 190°C, and improved ductility and toughness. The AV-700 Series is said to offer comparable performance to PEEK at up to a 30% lower cost. Solvay makes its PAEK polymers at Panoli in India.
Very close by, Gharda Plastics is also producing PEK, as well as polyetherketoneketone, PEKK. This is not a coincidence. Solvay bought Gharda Chemicals’ Polymers Division in 2005, at which time Gharda had a small plant making PEEK. Solvay says, however, that there is no collaboration
between Solvay and Gharda in PAEK. It says that KetaSpire and AvaSpire resins are derived completely from polyketone technology that existed within Solvay prior to its 2005 acquisition. “The Gatone PEEK product that came as part of that acquisition was withdrawn from the market and the production assets shut down,” says Solvay’s Wilson. “Following the acquisition, Solvay elected to site its commercial KetaSpire PEEK and AvaSpire PAEK assets in Panoli.”
Gharda has recently developed and commercialised
a grade of its G-PAEK with high wear resistance - G- PAEK 1230FCT (which is a PEK) - for an application in photocopier machine parts such as paper feeders and gears. The requirement for the paper feeder is for extremely low creep at the end of the feeder tip and excellent wear resistance at elevated application temperatures up to 250°C. Gharda says lubricated grades of polyimide, polyamideimide, PPS, and polyamide 4,6 all failed in the same application. Its formulation, which contains carbon and glass fibres, graphite, molybdenum disulphide and PTFE, passed the stringent requirements.
Appliance demands Gharda also cites the use of PAEK for heat-resistant components in coffee makers and – yes – ice-cream machines. It says use of unfilled and 30% glass fibre reinforced PAEK in espresso machine dispenser parts is increasing rapidly. The requirement is in the zone where hot coffee comes into contact with equipment parts. Over time, the caffeine can weaken the parts. The company says PC and PPS will both fail in this applica- tion while PEEK and PEK both resist caffeine at elevated temperatures, together with offering high hydrolytic stability and resistance to steam under pressure. A lubricated grade of PEK has also been chosen for a worm gear inside a steel housing in an ice-cream
Performance heats up in the kitchen
ETP suppliers spend a lot of time and money developing concepts they hope will lead to increased use of their materials. Think of concepts and cars normally come to mind, but one of the most off-the-wall examples to be seen at a recent show was something much hotter – an oven. Plastics and ovens simply don’t go
together, unless we are talking micro- wave technology. Or do they? Silicone elastomers are now quite commonly used for moulds, while industrial baking tins in use around the clock are made in materials such as SABIC’s Ultem PEI. Now Celanese is proposing an entire oven inner skin as a one piece ETP injection moulding. At recent exhibitions, the company has been showing off a concept of what can
70 COMPOUNDING WORLD | June 2014
be achieved with thermoplastics. The concept part was actually made from formed sheet, but Celanese has no doubt that it could be injection moulded in one
of its high-temperature thermoplastics – mostly likely a Vectra or Zenite LCP – and that it would be suitable even for ovens with pyrolysis self-cleaning features (but not a regular grill as that would still be too hot). The concept was created for Celanese by independent design consultancy Indio da Costa, which was aiming to come up with “mega city” ideas of more compact living structures. Thilo Vaahs, Global Director of the company’s Consumer Business Unit, says around 30% less energy would be needed to heat it up compared to a traditional oven, owing to its lower mass (close to 2 kg), and low thermal conductivity. OEMs that have been given presenta-
tions are said to have been “positively surprised.”
www.compoundingworld.com
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