Performance polymers

“Extreme competition of materials”

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■  Performance polymers are the “upper class” of the family of technopolymers, although boundaries between these different materials are less and less clear; we can now boost polypropylenes or polyacetals in such a way that they appear to mimic technical plastics.

■  We know how important plastics and elastomers are in a large number of industrial sectors. Technopolymers have many advantages: they are resistant to temperature, they contribute to weight reduction, they enable the realisation of complex forms and contribute to integrating functions, they can be coated in metal, they are becoming cheaper and more and more noble, and their recycling problems will soon be a thing of the past. Thanks to all of this, they are always an option in any innovation project brief.

■  The level of performance of these polymers is measured in view of their resistance to shocks, their capacity to resist harsh environments, their resistance to fire and to high temperatures.

■  The characteristics of these new materials have opened up new markets to them, which until now were the domain of metals and technical ceramics.

■  Super-polyamides, which are now used at constant temperatures of 300°C, have made their way under our car bonnets, where, for example, they replace aluminium in an air cooler on a Volkswagen-Audi engine. Polysulphones have made their way into household electrical goods and the biomedical sector; they are also used in the electronics and food sectors; do we need to mention fluoropolymers, which are practically inalterable and which can withstand the harshest chemical aggressions, or liquid crystals which have conquered connector technology?

■  The biggest surprise comes perhaps from polyethercetones. We know them better as PEEK. In gear pairs, where steel used to dominate, these polymers are new present and make it possible to avoid corrosion and wear of pumps. They resist temperatures of up to 280°C, they have excellent chemical resistance, they resist to pressure and behave remarkably in response to light, shocks and traction.

■  There are too many innovations to mention them all here, but it remains to be said that all developers have to consider replacing metallic parts with high performance polymer elements.

■  To help industrial players measure the diffusion of these materials in a large number of industrial sectors and to constitute a library of international cases and feedback, Innovation 128 and its partners can provide them with a multi-client watch programme, which aims to identify all records of properties of these materials and their new applications.

■  In order to make this technological watch activity a veritable decision-making help tool, Innovation 128 and its associated experts will compile and regularly update a comparative and dynamic table of technical and economic information; this summary will facilitate the choice of materials by showing compared costs of materials and associated processes and the level of maturation of these materials in different industrial applications.

■  Lastly, Internet bookmarks of suppliers of new performance polymers will be regularly updated in this new TechWatch programme.

Main themes

■  Properties of performance polymers

  • mechanical and thermo-mechanical properties (resistance to shocks, to scratches, to ageing, to UV rays, etc.)
  • thermal and acoustic properties (high temperatures, anti-fire, absorbers)
  • tri-biological properties (anti-friction, etc.)
  • optical properties (transparency, reflection, etc.)
  • electrical and electromagnetic properties (shielding, conduction, etc.)
  • bio-behaviour (food compatibility, recyclability, bio-compatibility, biodegradability)
  • implementation processes (additives, charges, etc.)
  • shaping processes (powders, granules, wires and fibres, etc.)

■  Feedback by market

  • automobile construction
  • aeronautical construction
  • space & defence
  • packaging
  • household electrical goods
  • construction
  • sports & leisure
  • electronics and electrical engineering
  • biomedical

■  Technical and economic data

  • cost of materials and associated processes
  • competition between materials
  • new sources: the Who’s Who