Materials: Advanced Fluoropolymers Enhance Themoplastic Composites

New advanced Fluon fluoropolymer resins, enhanced materials and compounds from AGC Chemicals America, Exton, Penn., have been shown to improve the performance of thermoplastic materials, and are reportedly ideal for enhancing strength, heat tolerance, adhesion, impact resistance and flexibility of materials used in thermoplastic composite applications. At the Composites and Advanced Materials Expo (CAMX), held Sept. 24-26 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif., AGC is showcasing the new such performance polymers for the composites industry:

 ▪  mPEEK, a modified PEEK compound enhanced with specialty fluoropolymers to improve impact and wear resistance, flexibility and electrical properties. AGC’s mPEEK can be used to produce different geometries such as sheets, rods, tubes, gears, liners, wire and cable insulations, and film that better withstand demanding operational conditions. Compared with standard PEEK, mPEEK has been shown to improve processability via extrusion molding, injection molding and compression molding. These functionalized compounds demonstrate a lower dielectric constant than standard PEEK at high temperatures up to 260 °C. The specialized fluoropolymer technology can potentially work in other polymers for property enhancement.

▪  Fluon EA-2000 resin, a functionalized high-temperature adhesive polymer that offers the ability for one-step processing with other polymers and metals such as titanium and copper. This resin reportedly adds value by eliminating the need for surface treatment or a separate tie-layer. It is heat resistant to 260 C/500 F and features superior chemical resistance, equivalent to other conventional materials.  EA-2000 resin is said to be ideal for continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastics (CFRTP) applications requiring high temperature.  EA-2000 in powder form can be used as an additive to engineering thermoplastic polymer matrices such as nylon to add more flexibility, impact resistance and reduced water absorption.  EA-2000 can also be used as the primary matrix resin for high-temperature CFRTP applications when nylons and epoxy are unsuitable.