SABIC Innovative Plastics’ Newest Extem UH Resin Meets Hottest Trends

April 25, 2011 - PRLog -- SABIC Innovative Plastics today announced the newest addition to its Extem* UH family of amorphous thermoplastic polyimide (TPI) resins to meet customer requirements for design-friendly materials that deliver high performance at prolonged extreme temperatures. This unique new grade not only delivers unprecedented heat resistance, but also opens vast new design possibilities by providing exceptional dimensional stability for thin-wall molding. Extem UH resin underscores SABIC Innovative Plastics’ ongoing investment in high-end thermoplastic technologies and the company’s proactive efforts to track and address fast-evolving customer needs.

Using Extem UH resin, customers in the automotive, aerospace, semiconductor, electrical and chemical industries can achieve superior mechanical performance vs. polyetheretherketone (PEEK); greater system cost advantages vs. cross-linked polyamide imide (PAI); much improved design freedom vs. ceramics; and broader metal replacement opportunities in applications where no previous resins were available.

“Our new Extem UH resin grade clearly illustrates SABIC Innovative Plastics’ technology leadership and how we are delivering new breakthrough solutions to customers facing escalating continuous use temperature requirements for critical applications,” said Peter Catsman, global product marketing leader, High Performance Products, SABIC Innovative Plastics. “Extem UH resin is a unique material that meets the key challenges of ultra-high-performance end products with excellent strength and stiffness for thin wall designs, lower weight than metals or thermosets, and cost-effective processing.”

First Unfilled Thermoplastic to Meet UL® 746B Standard at 260C

With its high glass transition temperature, new Extem UH 1019 resin is the first unfilled thermoplastic to achieve a continuous use temperature rating of 260C according to UL 746B. Although PEEK – a semi-crystalline material – offers similar heat performance, its mechanical properties may not withstand high continuous use temperatures. In contrast, Extem UH 1019 resin delivers eight times better stiffness, as well as superior creep and extreme low thermal expansion performance. These properties enable the design of thin walls and complex shapes with high dimensional stability, as well as the potential for weight-out.

Compared to PAI, which requires cross-linking that impacts yields, Extem UH 1019 resin uses simple, high-yield injection molding and extrusion processes and can be recycled.

Further, Extem UH 1019 resin has the potential to replace ceramic and metal in applications where thermoplastics are not suitable. In these cases, the SABIC Innovative Plastics material brings advantages of weight-out, excellent design flexibility and system cost reduction.
Extem resins are inherently flame retardant without the use of halogenated additives that can pose environmental risks and raise regulatory compliance issues.

Potential applications include wire and cable insulation, high performance connectors and accessories, semicon plasma chamber components and pickup systems, high heat film, bearing cages, gears, membranes, stockshapes and composites.

For additional information on SABIC Innovative Plastics’ Extem resins, please go to www.sabic-ip.com. For technical product inquiries, please contact us at www.sabic-ip.com/prtechinquiry.

About SABIC Innovative Plastics

SABIC Innovative Plastics is a leading, global supplier of engineering thermoplastics with a 75-year history of breakthrough solutions that solve its customers’ most pressing challenges. Today, SABIC Innovative Plastics is a multi-billion-dollar company with operations in more than 35 countries and approximately 9,000 employees worldwide. The company continues to lead the plastics industry with customer collaboration and continued investments in new polymer technologies, global application development, process technologies, and environmentally responsible solutions that serve diverse markets such as automotive, electronics, building & construction, transportation, and healthcare. The company’s extensive product portfolio includes thermoplastic resins, coatings, specialty compounds, film, and sheet. SABIC Innovative Plastics (www.sabic-ip.com) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC).

About Saudi Basic Industries Corporation

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) ranks among the world’s top petrochemical companies, and is a global market leader in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene, advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers. SABIC manufactures with a global footprint in Saudi Arabia, the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. The company operates in more than 40 countries across the world with 33,000 employees worldwide. It has significant research resources with 18 dedicated Technology & Innovation facilities in Saudi Arabia, the USA, the Netherlands, Spain, India and China. SABIC recorded a net income of SR 21.59 billion(US$ 5.73  billion) in 2010, and sales revenues totaled SR 152 billion (US$ 40.5 billion).

* Trademarks of SABIC Innovative Plastics IP B.V.
® UL is a registered trademark of Underwriters Laboratories Inc.