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What is the definition of a polycarbonate plastic? Is it like SAK handles? Does it include Nylon or Zytel?
What is polycarbonate?
- Thread starter Bluegrasser12345
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Howdy,
Polycarbonate is a thermoplastic that has a specific chemical structure. It is not the same as Nylon or Zytel. ("Zytel" is the trade name that DuPont uses to market its Nylon.) I do not think the regular solid color SAK handles are made from polycarbonate. The translucent ones might be.
The most popular trade name for polycarbonate is "Lexan". Look up "Lexan in Wikipedia or Google it. They got plenty of data on it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexan
Polycarbonate is a thermoplastic that has a specific chemical structure. It is not the same as Nylon or Zytel. ("Zytel" is the trade name that DuPont uses to market its Nylon.) I do not think the regular solid color SAK handles are made from polycarbonate. The translucent ones might be.
The most popular trade name for polycarbonate is "Lexan". Look up "Lexan in Wikipedia or Google it. They got plenty of data on it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexan
It's like Knarfeng says it is a thermoplastic and it was originally marketed by General Electric all the way back in the 1970s. LEXAN was the original Polycarbonate and still remains one of the most popular formulations of it. It has some very desirable properties being very impact resistant and takes heat better than the vast majority of plastics.
A little side note about polycarbonate is that most of those light blue jugs you can buy to store water in are mostly made of Polycarbonate. It is ideal for storing water for long periods of time and it's plasticizers won't leach into the water like a lot of softer plastics will.
A lot of your very popular shatter resistant sunglasses are made with various types of polycarbonate. They also use it a lot in automotive tail-light lenses and many other applications where impact resistance is high desirable. Hope that helps
A little side note about polycarbonate is that most of those light blue jugs you can buy to store water in are mostly made of Polycarbonate. It is ideal for storing water for long periods of time and it's plasticizers won't leach into the water like a lot of softer plastics will.
A lot of your very popular shatter resistant sunglasses are made with various types of polycarbonate. They also use it a lot in automotive tail-light lenses and many other applications where impact resistance is high desirable. Hope that helps
Lexan = good stuff. Maschines really nicely and very easily unlike plexiglass. Very tough an pretty strong but most importantly, it is clear colored and can be used for windows. The most important application these days are probably CDs and DVDs which are made (except for the writable interior) from polycarbonate. It is fairly soft and scratches pretty easily but can be coated to produce a harder surface finish. Its most common nemeses (plural of nemesis?) are UV irradiation and aceton. In particular the later will not only dissolve but literally crack it. UV will also decompose it over time. Withstands very cold temperatures (we use it under liquid nitrogen), can be solvent welded like plexiglas. Quite resistant to fairly strong acid (15% sulfuric acid) but will be decomposed by very strong acides like 100% sulfuric. Will become plastic at fairly low temperatures (around 100 deg C if I call correctly).
Just some tidbids that come to mind immediately.
Just some tidbids that come to mind immediately.