The glass, electric engineering, semiconductor, and aerospace industries are all seeing an increase in demand for high performance plastics

 

High Performance Plastics is defined as those plastics that not only resist but performs better than other standard performance plastics in the same category. This means that high-performance polymers do not change color, break down easily, do not yellow, and don't form scales. The most popular high-performance plastic is PVC (polyvinyl chloride), because it is resistant to weathering, thick, and can be easily welded. However, the most common high performance plastics is HMP (high molecular polymers) such as polycarbonate and polypropylene.

High-performance plastics have excellent mechanical properties, specifically high strength-to-weight ratios, and tensile strength. They are resistant to both abrasion and corrosion and possess significant brittleness and fatigue strength. For instance, a popular high-performance plastics product called polyethylene (PEX) is used to make pipes, ductwork, and oil seals. Since PEX is highly resistive to most chemicals, it can be used to strengthen piping by improving the physical resistance to leakage. Since it is highly resistant to freezing and thawing, a mechanical seal is needed for preventing leaks in the cold. Standard pipe joints would be insufficient because they would crack under the extreme conditions that occur during a pipeline leak.

Therefore, engineers have incorporated a mechanical seal made from fluoropolymers in place of the conventional PEX, which is resistant to freezing and thawing. Many high-performance plastics have high mechanical properties. These characteristics allow them to resist wear, impact, creep, abrasion, heat flow, chemical reaction, compression, and many other mechanical stresses. High-performance plastics will also expand and contract less under various temperature and pressure conditions than regular plastics. As mentioned above, high performance plastics are used in a wide variety of applications. However, because they have a wide range of possible applications and because they can be customized in many ways, they are sometimes used instead of metals in some applications. Recently, in Germany, Lanxess AG announced to build a new production plant for high-performance plastics in Krefeld-Uerdingen, Germany.