materials feature | Thermal conductivity
Lati is supplying thermally
conductive PA 6 for the heat
sinks in Vossloh Schwabe’s LED lighting systems
MaterialScience. At 40 W/m.K, for example, Makrolon TC8060 has a thermal conductivity around one hundred times higher than standard grades of this polycarbon- ate. It also has a UL 94 V-0 fl ammability classifi ca- tion at 1.5 mm.
Ovation Polymers, a venture-funded company founded some 10 years ago in Medina, Ohio, US, is one more compounder heavily involved in the sector. Business technology manager Nishant Negandhi says it has found a niche in electrically and thermally conductive thermoplastics, for which it now holds several patents. He says Ovation “got in at the ground fl oor” of the development of thermally conductive compounds for the LED lighting market.
“We have a complete technology platform for any thermoplastic,” Negandhi says. The company has formulations for various levels of thermal conductivity and various combinations of thermal and electrical conductivity. Compounds are also available with various levels of fl ame retardancy.
The company’s principal focus is on PA 66-based
compounds for heat sinks, since nylon has become the material of choice for such applications in consumer LED lighting, where pricing is critical. PA 66 scores over 6 with its higher long-term heat stability. Ovation has more than 40 PA 66-based grades alone. “We don’t think anybody else has such an extensive offering,” says Negandhi. But he emphasizes: “We are an independent compounder, we are not wedded to any polymer.” Compounds are highly fi lled, but Negandhi gives little away about additive type or content. “It’s generally understood that fi ller content has to be at least 40%,” is all he will say. “With the high loading, the biggest question potential users have is, ‘Will I be able to mould this material, and will it look good?’ We have demon- strated that our compounds are easy to mould,” he says. “Compounds still exhibit the typical thermoplastic behaviour in the melt, as the strain goes up, viscosity goes down.”
Lighting
Science offers a line of retrofi t LED lamps using Cool Polymers thermally
conductive plastics
The company is also seeing interest in compounds based on higher performance polymers such as PPS and LCPs for high-power LEDs and other electronic applications. Negandhi says several grades are undergoing trials at customers. “We have also had some success with polycar- bonate and thermoplastic polyesters.”
New heat sinks for LED lighting systems developed by Vossloh Schwabe use Laticon- ther 62 GR/50, a specially designed thermally conductive PA 6-based com- pound from Lati containing 50% by weight of a special graphite. Lati says the base
24 COMPOUNDING WORLD | February 2014
resin was chosen in cooperation with Vossloh Schwabe “bearing in mind that the primary objective is the proper and smooth fi lling of mould cavities operating under non-extreme conversion conditions.” The compound has a thermal conductivity of about 10 w/m.K.
At the aptly named compounder Cool Polymers,
product manager Jim Miller says that Lighting Science designed a line of retrofi t LED lamps using its CoolPoly thermally conductive plastics. Cool Polymers has been selling TCTPs since 1998, and includes Apple among its customers. Miller says the demand for thermally conductive plastic solutions to heat management challenges in lighting, solar, and automotive applications has been predicted to reach over $1 billion by 2020.
More information
Thermal conductivity will once again be covered in a special session at the second Compounding World Forum, which takes place on 9-10 December 2014 in Philadelphia, PA, USA. Book by 9 May and save $500. For more information and details of compounders and exhibitors who were at our debut event, visit:
http://bit.ly/CWF2014.
Click on the links for more information:
www.esk.com
www.saint-gobain.com
www.momentive.com
www.timcal.com
www.lehvoss.de
www.polyone.com
www.epicpolymers.com
www.sabic-ip.com
www.lanxess.com
www.dsmep.com
www.bayer.com
www.opteminc.com
www.lati.com
www.compoundingworld.com
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