Three new engineered LEXAN™ film products for display, electronics and auto industry

SABIC’s Innovative Plastics business announced a major expansion of its industry leading LEXAN™ polycarbonate (PC) portfolio: three new engineered LEXAN PC film grades to help customers in the consumer electronics and automotive sectors meet growing demand for cost reduction, greater design flexibility, higher performance and compliance with global environmental regulations. The new grades – LEXAN HP92TTY, LEXAN 6060 and LEXAN OQ8DA films – provide outstanding optical quality and specialized functionality for in-mold decoration (IMD) overlays in consumer electronics and automotive applications. These new additions to its flagship LEXAN product portfolio also demonstrate SABIC’s ongoing investment in world-class technologies and underscore the company’s unyielding commitment to the technical requirements, application development needs and business goals of global customers and converters. Lennard Markestein, global film portfolio & North Asia director, Innovative Plastics said, “These new materials also illustrate SABIC’s solid commitment to helping our customers’ growth and success in Asia and around the world. SABIC actively supports our Asian customers with a dedicated local team, complete supply chain support and an efficient distribution organization to ensure a steady and reliable source of our films.” The three new high-functional LEXAN films provide new design options for IMD overlays and lenses, and are suitable for embossing and printing. LEXAN HP92TTY coated film for 2.5-dimensional formed parts delivers good chemical and abrasion resistance is embossable and requires no post-curing step. Target applications are IMD overlays for consumer electronics and automotive parts. LEXAN 6060 film for IMD overlays on 3-dimensional parts is printable and provides high gloss, light transmission and provides increased surface hardness. Applications include housings for portable electronics. LEXAN OQ8DA dual-coated sheeted film provides excellent impact performance and is printable. It can be used for lenses and keypads on electronic devices. LEXAN films are available in monolithic gauges up to 500 ìm and provide excellent optical quality and good dimensional stability at elevated temperatures. Several of the grades are suitable for printing and can be formed in 3D shapes. LEXAN films with engineered surface textures provide a cost-effective value proposition by using a one-step melt extrusion manufacturing process with PC resin. This in combination with LEXAN film’s lower density of 15% less than PET and ability for recycling may provide significant cost savings compared to PET alternatives. SABIC offers mono- and multi-layer extrusion capabilities and in-line master sheeting. Through its distribution and convertor partners, the company also offers roll slitting and cut-to-size services. SABIC’s application development facilities provide lamination, folding, die cutting, screen printing, laser marking and 3D forming services to customers. Further illustrating its commitment to Asian markets, SABIC also recently expanded LEXAN Optical Quality film production at its Nansha, China, facility with a state-of-the-art extrusion line. Subsequent capability and capacity additions in Asia are planned for the 2012-2015 period.