New nylon maintains excellent performance levels much longer than traditional nylons

A new family of nylon products delivers excellent performance levels and maintains the excellent performance levels much longer than traditional nylons despite exposure to hot oil, hot air, calcium chloride and other aggressive automotive chemicals. The new material- DuPont Zytel PLUS nylon has been introduced by DuPont Performance Polymers. The new family launches with four products primarily targeted at the automotive industry where the drive to take out weight and cost adds up to improved fuel economy and reduced carbon emissions. Additional products are planned for 2010. "Performance demands in automotive continue to increase," said Patrick Ferronato, global marketing director -- DuPont Automotive Performance Polymers. "Zytel PLUS nylon meets these demands with better durability while maintaining the design and processing ease familiar with nylon to invite even more opportunities to replace metal for cost and weight savings." Whether exposed to calcium chloride or to 3,000 or 4,000 hours of hot air, hot oil, water, long-life coolant, members of the Zytel PLUS nylon family outperform traditional nylon products on the market today, according to recent tests. "In many cases, Zytel PLUS nylon will be able to double the life of thermoplastic components exposed to hot, chemically aggressive and humid environments," said Rob Palmer, research and development senior research associate -- DuPont Performance Polymers. "Zytel PLUS nylon creates the opportunity to replace even more metal and some specialty polymers, while simplifying processing." New Zytel PLUS nylon receives its endurance boost from SHIELDTechnology. DuPont SHIELD Technology combines several innovations, including a new polymer backbone, polymer modifications and a special set of additives, to enhance many performance characteristics. The exact combination and composition of chemistries are optimized for each product based on the targeted application. Target automotive applications include: charge air coolers, exhaust mufflers, turbo air ducts, engine mounts, resonators, cylinder head covers, oil pans, EGR coolers, oil modules, thermostats, transmission components -- such as front covers -- and radiator end tanks where calcium chloride resistance is especially important due to road treatments. "While targeted initially at the automotive market, we expect broader interest, especially where superior surface appearance, resistance to aging and/or ease of processing is desired," said Karin Weining, global marketing director, industrial, consumer, energy -- DuPont Performance Polymers. "This new product is the result of several breakthroughs from research and development aimed at cost-effectively improving performance and especially durability to meet automotive market needs," said Bob Lawton, global technology manager -- DuPont Zytel nylon.