All-season Performance Fire Resistant Solid Polycarbonate Sheet

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5 year

Product details

Polycarbonate (PC) is a general term for a class of high molecular weight compounds whose polymer chains contain carbonate ester bonds. The general molecular structure is shown in the figure below:

Based on the different R groups in the structural formula shown above, PC can be classified into different types: when R is an aliphatic hydrocarbon group, it is referred to as aliphatic PC; when R is an aromatic group, it is referred to as aromatic PC; and when R contains both aliphatic hydrocarbon groups and aromatic groups, it is referred to as aliphatic-aromatic PC.

Due to its widest range of applications, the PC typically referred to is bisphenol A-type PC (BPA-PC), and all subsequent references to PC in this text refer to BPA-PC. The structure of BPA-PC is shown in the figure below. The presence of numerous benzene rings and carbonate bonds in the molecular chain confers excellent mechanical properties, heat resistance, and high transparency, making it the preferred material for both consumer plastics and engineering plastics. The main physical properties of PC are listed in the table below. Additionally, PC exhibits thickness-dependent transparency, with a light transmittance as high as 90% at a thickness of 2 mm; PC has a limiting oxygen index (LOI) of up to 27, demonstrating outstanding flame-retardant properties. During combustion, it produces a large amount of solid particles that are difficult to melt and do not contribute to the spread of flames. Furthermore, it does not release harmful gases during combustion, conferring excellent flame-retardant and safety properties on the material.

Main physical properties of PC

Performance	Values (units)
Impact strength	50~70 kJ/M2
Tensile strength	60~70 Mpa
Thermal decomposition temperature	≥340 ℃
Thermal deformation temperature	130~140 ℃
Density	1.2 g/cm3

Polycarbonate Applications

Due to its excellent light transmission, flame retardancy, mechanical properties, and heat resistance, PC has been transformed into a wide variety of materials and is widely used in various fields.

1. Electronics and Electrical Appliances

PC is an excellent E-class (120°C) insulating material that exhibits excellent insulating properties under a wide range of temperature and humidity conditions. Additionally, PC possesses outstanding flame resistance and dimensional stability, making it suitable for manufacturing various insulated cables and electrical enclosures. PC also excels in the production of high-precision components, such as optical discs, telephones, electronic computers, video recorders, telephone switches, signal relays, and other communication equipment. Furthermore, PC is widely used in the manufacturing of capacitors, insulated casings, audio tapes, and color video tapes.

2. Automotive Industry

PC is widely used in the automotive industry due to its excellent optical properties, impact resistance, and ease of shaping. Applications include electric vehicle housings, charging station housings, lighting fixtures, window glass, instrument panels, control panels, interior components, and scratch-resistant materials. Compared to traditional materials, PC's lower density helps reduce the overall weight of vehicles, contributing to energy conservation and emissions reduction.

3. Construction Materials Industry

PC, with its outstanding optical properties, thermal insulation properties, impact resistance, chemical stability, low density, and ease of processing, has gradually replaced traditional inorganic glass and is widely used in skylights for large buildings. As PC sheet production processes and technologies continue to improve, its applications in building facades and interior partitions are also expanding and deepening.

4. Packaging Industry

Due to its easy-to-clean, heat-resistant, and non-deformable properties, PC has been widely adopted in the packaging industry. Many plastic manufacturers are now producing recyclable PC plastic bottles and containers to replace large, fragile glass containers for transporting and storing water and beverages. Additionally, due to its excellent transparency, PC packaging for food, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics offers a more visually appealing and elegant presentation during sales, leading to its increasing use in these industries.

5. Aerospace Industry

With the rapid development of China's aerospace technology, increasingly stringent requirements have been placed on the performance metrics of aircraft and spacecraft components, leading to greater application of PC in this field. According to reports, a single Boeing aircraft uses approximately 2,500 PC parts, with each aircraft requiring roughly 2 tons of PC material. In space vehicles, over a hundred different configurations of glass-fiber-reinforced PC composite materials are employed. Notably, astronauts' protective gear also extensively utilizes PC materials, showcasing its widespread application and exceptional performance in the aerospace sector.

6. Medical device field

Due to the excellent durability of PC products, they do not exhibit yellowing or a decline in physical properties after exposure to steam, heating, cleaning agents, and high-dose radiation sterilization. This makes PC widely applicable in blood dialysis equipment and other medical devices requiring transparency, intuitive operation, and repeated sterilization. These applications include but are not limited to drug delivery devices, high-pressure syringes, surgical masks, disposable dental instruments, blood oxygenators, vascular stents, blood collection and storage devices, and blood separators.

7. Optical Materials Field

PC materials play a crucial role in the optical materials field due to their exceptional high refractive index and high light transmittance. Compared to inorganic glass materials, optical-grade PC materials used in camera lenses or other types of lenses offer significant advantages in terms of impact resistance and dimensional stability. Due to these unique properties, PC materials have garnered significant attention in the eyewear manufacturing industry, with some lenses now being produced using PC materials, providing users with greater comfort and safety.