High-temperature resistant PC XHT3141

SABIC's high-temperature resistant PC XHT3141 is a high-flow, high-heat polycarbonate copolymer. It is available in a range of opaque and limited transparent colors. UL Yellow Card Number: E45329-100052925. Polycarbonate is an amorphous polymer with unique toughness and excellent impact strength. It also exhibits high optical clarity, excellent creep resistance, and high-temperature resistance.

The three major application areas of PC engineering plastics are the glass assembly industry, the automotive industry, and the electronics and electrical appliance industry. Other applications include industrial machinery parts, optical discs, packaging, office equipment such as computers, medical and healthcare products, films, leisure and protective equipment, etc. PC can be used as window and door glass. PC laminated sheets are widely used in protective windows for banks, embassies, detention centers, and public places, as well as for aircraft canopies, lighting equipment, industrial safety barriers, and bulletproof glass.

PC sheets can be used for various signs, such as gasoline pump dials, automobile dashboards, warehouse and outdoor commercial signs, and dot-matrix sliding indicators. PC resin is used in automotive lighting systems, dashboard systems, and interior decoration systems, serving as headlight covers, reinforced front and rear bumpers, mirror frames, door frame sleeves, lever protective sleeves, and spoilers. PC is also applied in junction boxes, sockets, plugs and sleeves, gaskets, television conversion devices, telephone line brackets, communication cable connectors, switch boxes, telephone exchanges, distribution panel components, and relay housings. PC can be used for low-load parts in household appliance motors, vacuum cleaners, hair washers, coffee makers, toasters, power tool handles, various gears, worm gears, bushings, guide rails, and refrigerator shelves. PC is an ideal material for optical disc storage media.

PC bottles (containers) are transparent, lightweight, impact-resistant, and resistant to certain high temperatures and corrosive solutions, making them suitable as recyclable bottles (containers). PC and PC alloys can be used for computer frames, housings, peripherals, and printer parts. Modified PC resists high-energy radiation sterilization, steam, and baking disinfection, making it suitable for blood collection devices, blood oxygenators, surgical instruments, kidney dialyzers, etc. PC can also be used for helmets, safety caps, protective masks, sunglasses, and sports goggles. PC films are widely used in printed charts, medical packaging, and membrane commutators.

The application development of polycarbonate is moving towards high composite, high functionality, specialization, and serialization. Various specialized grades have been introduced for products such as optical discs, automobiles, office equipment, cases, packaging, medicine, lighting, and films.

Construction Industry

Polycarbonate sheets offer excellent light transmission, impact resistance, UV radiation resistance, dimensional stability, and good molding processability, giving them significant technical advantages over traditional inorganic glass in construction. China has over 20 production lines for polycarbonate building material hollow sheets, with an annual demand of about 70,000 tons of polycarbonate, expected to reach 140,000 tons by 2005.

Automotive Manufacturing

Polycarbonate's excellent impact resistance, heat distortion resistance, weather resistance, and hardness make it suitable for producing various parts of cars and light trucks, mainly concentrated in lighting systems, dashboards, heating plates, defrosters, and bumpers made of PC alloys.

Medical-Grade PC Material Used to Make Syringes

According to data from developed countries, polycarbonate usage in the electronics, electrical, and automotive manufacturing industries accounts for 40% to 50%, while in China, it only accounts for about 10%. The electronics, electrical, and automotive manufacturing industries are rapidly developing pillar industries in China, and future demand for polycarbonate in these areas will be enormous. With a large total number of vehicles and high demand in China, the application of polycarbonate in this field has significant potential for expansion.

Aerospace

With the rapid development of aviation and aerospace technology, the requirements for various components in aircraft and spacecraft are continuously increasing, leading to a growing application of PC in this field. According to statistics, a single Boeing aircraft uses up to 2,500 polycarbonate parts, consuming about 2 tons of polycarbonate per aircraft. Hundreds of different configurations of glass fiber-reinforced polycarbonate parts and astronaut protective equipment are used in spacecraft.

Packaging Field

A new growth area in the packaging field is reusable and sterilizable water storage bottles of various models. Due to their lightweight, impact resistance, transparency, and ability to remain transparent and undeformed when washed with hot water and corrosive solutions, PC bottles have completely replaced glass bottles in some areas. It is predicted that with increasing attention to drinking water quality, the growth rate of polycarbonate usage in this area will remain above 10%, reaching 60,000 tons by 2005.

Electronics Industry

Polycarbonate's good and constant electrical insulation over a wide range of temperatures and humidity makes it an excellent insulating material. Its good flame retardancy and dimensional stability have also led to broad applications in the electronics and electrical industries.

Polycarbonate resin is mainly used to produce various food processing machinery, electric tool housings, bodies, brackets, refrigerator freezer drawers, and vacuum cleaner parts. Moreover, PC materials have shown extremely high value in critical components of computers, video recorders, and color televisions that require high precision.

Optical Lenses

Polycarbonate holds an extremely important position in this field due to its unique high light transmittance, high refractive index, high impact resistance, dimensional stability, and ease of processing. Optical lenses made from optical-grade polycarbonate are used not only in cameras, microscopes, telescopes, and optical testing instruments but also in movie projectors, copier lenses, infrared autofocus projectors, laser printer lenses, and various prisms and multi-faceted mirrors in office equipment and household appliances, demonstrating a vast application market.

Another important application of polycarbonate in optical lenses is as a material for children's glasses, sunglasses, safety glasses, and adult eyeglass lenses. The global consumption of polycarbonate in the eyewear industry has maintained an average annual growth rate of over 20%, showing significant market vitality.

Optical Disc Manufacturing

With the rise of the information industry, optical discs made from optical-grade polycarbonate, as a new generation of audio and video information storage media, are developing at an extremely rapid pace. Polycarbonate has become the main raw material for the global optical disc manufacturing industry due to its excellent performance characteristics. The amount of polycarbonate consumed in optical disc manufacturing exceeds 20% of the total global consumption, with an average annual growth rate of over 10%. China's optical disc production has grown rapidly. According to data released by the General Administration of Press and Publication, in 2002, there were 748 optical disc production lines in China, consuming about 80,000 tons of optical-grade polycarbonate annually, all of which was imported. Thus, the application prospects of polycarbonate in optical disc manufacturing are extremely broad.

PC can be processed by injection molding, extrusion, compression molding, blow molding, thermoforming, printing, bonding, coating, and machining, with injection molding being the most important method. Pre-drying is essential before processing, with moisture content below 0.02%. Trace moisture during high-temperature processing can cause whitish discoloration, silver streaks, and bubbles in the product. PC has considerable forced high elastic deformation capability at room temperature and high impact toughness, allowing cold pressing, cold drawing, cold rolling, and other cold forming processes. For extrusion, the molecular weight of PC should be greater than 30,000, using a gradual compression screw with an L/D ratio of 1:18–24 and a compression ratio of 1:2.5. Extrusion blow molding, injection-blow, and injection-stretch-blow molding can be used to produce high-quality, highly transparent bottles. There are numerous types of PC alloys. To address issues such as high melt viscosity (processability) and stress cracking in products, PC is blended with different polymers to form alloys or blends, improving material performance.