Electronic sector drives growth in LCP production

With rising trends in miniaturisation of components, the electronics industry continues to drive the headlong growth of liquid crystal polymers (LCPs). Custom-made products and more efficient processing methods are the challenges for high-tech plastics Liquid crystal polymers (LCPs) are present in crystalline form beyond their melting points. The result of the shearing of the melt, as it happens, for instance, in the cylinder of an injection - moulding machine, is the crystalline structure disrupted until the polymer begins to flow. The melt liquefied by shearing has a low viscosity that in injection moulding even complex parts having low wall thickness can be filled in the mould without difficulty. The lamellar structure of the crystallites and the laminar flow properties of the melt give rise to a particular rigidity in the direction of flow. In thin - walled parts, the relationship between areas of turbulence in the peripheral zones and the central laminar structure results in a sandwich effect, which allows high strengths in thin - walled components. The molecular structure of the polymers and the high proportion of aromatic compounds in them bring about not only very high thermal stability - thermal degradation of LCPs starts just below 400°C - but also extremely high continuous working temperatures. Double-digit growth rates Since LCPs were first produced on an industrial scale in the 1980s, global demand has risen steadily. Today, the largest market is the electrical and electronics industry. Although after the IT boom at the end of the 20th and at start of the 21st century growth briefly flattened a little, recovery soon followed and returned to double-digit growth rates. The leading LCP producers are tracking this growth by continuous expansion of their production capacities. Ticona, with its Japanese joint venture Polyplastics, will increase its LCP capacity in 2009 to over 16,000 tonnes and has already announced further expansion activities in Asia. Its other competitors have also increased their production volumes. According to information from SRI, DuPont has an annual capacity of around 10,000 tonnes and Sumitomo Chemical over 7,000 tonnes, which is to be raised by end of 2008 to 9,200 tonnes annually. The manufacturers of precursor products are also planning to increase their monomer capacities accordingly. Plastics manufacturers are also continuously working on the further development of LCPs. The large number of monomers available for LCP production and their possible combinations allow the polymerisation of numerous high - tech plastics to meet different customer requirements. The customary processing of LCPs to form compounds suitable for injection moulding increases the range of possible modifications. Expanding LPC uses The high heat resistance of LCPs, coupled with their good chemical resistance, meets the pre - requisites for automobile applications. These include sensors (title picture) or actuators as examples. Connectors for vehicle electronic systems also consist of these inherently flame - resistant polymers. The field of automobile lighting is another area of application for LCPs. In the mechanics of the curvilinear light drive in headlights from Hella, Lippstadt, Germany, Vectra LCP is also employed because the polymer still exhibits excellent sliding friction properties when exposed to high temperatures and enables the production of even more precise components. The balance in automotive engineering between performance and economic efficiency is achieved by low wall thickness as required by design and substantially shorter cycle times in injection moulding. This is because of the absence in LCP of energy of crystallization on cooling. LCP also focuses in automotive engineering in its classic domain of electronics. The electronic circuits are produced by laser direct structuring. Another promising feature for LCP takeZoom Kobe XII ZK12