New Ultem PEI grades for medical, E/E, and springs

SABIC Innovative Plastics has developed new grades of its Ultem polyetherimide (PEI) resin, as well as Ultem-based compounds, to win medical and electrical/electronic components, with an industrial spring project in the mix for good measure.

German manufacturer of labware and medical products, Ritter GmbH, is utilizing a new healthcare grade of Ultem for its Polysteribox sterilization and transport container. Ritter said that chemical cleaning and autoclave sterilization of reusable medical devices have forced manufacturers to find new materials that can withstand stronger alkalinity and higher temperatures. The enhanced Ultem healthcare resin grade satisfies ISO10993 certification criteria for biocompatibility, while reportedly maintaining high performance and transparent appearance after 1000 cycles of chemical cleaning at a PH of 12 or 13 and 1000 cycles of autoclaving at temperatures of up to 148°C. SABIC says the longer useful life imparted by Ultem helps reduce total system cost of the application.

Ritter switched from an existing Ultem due to new cleaning and sterilization requirements, asking SABIC for a grade that offered high stiffness, ductility, and compressive strength, as well as colorability and enough transparency to allow users to see inside without opening the container. The new Ultem allowed Ritter to raise the autoclave vacuum-sterilization temperature of its Polysteribox container to 134°C. The company says this higher temperature not only appears to destroy pathogens like bovine spongiform encephalopathy, but it also shortens the total autoclave time to 20 minutes compared to 30 minutes at the previous temperature of 121°C.

SABIC has also recently developed specialized grades of Ultem to enable the development of cost-effective one-piece molded connector designs. The company says these grades can be precisely tailored to specific wavelengths and offer attenuation control, extreme high heat resistance, and dimensional stability for accurate fiber alignment. The new Ultem materials are intended to reduce connector costs by up to 20%, while speeding up fiber installation and providing long service life.

SABIC believes the materials will play a role in expanding the availability and use of fiber optic technology, helping to meet the world's growing demand for faster and faster data access. SABIC's proprietary technology allows it to finely tune the new Ultem's to transmit light over the specific wavelength required by the customer or by industry standards. The transparent resin has custom color to minimize attenuation, and provides strong resistance to high temperatures. In addition, SABIC says excellent dimensional stability helps ensure fibers remain aligned within the connector, obviating the need for maintenance or replacement. Ultem high flow rates also mean connectors can be injection molded with high throughput. Because one-piece designs require no additional assembly, system costs are further reduced, and a simpler connector also streamlines installation.

Mechanical spring manufacturer Lee Spring is utilizing Ultem  to injection mold springs that will replace metal versions, with the resin imparting high strength-to-weight ratio, no magnetic interference, high corrosion resistance, and dielectric insulation for non-conductive applications. The LeeP compression springs offer longer life due to resistance to salt water, and in the medical device industry, they avoid the cost of shielding, which is necessary for metal springs that can interfere with diagnostic imaging. Other market sectors that may benefit from the new springs are:  medical products and processing equipment, pharmaceutical delivery devices, food processing and packaging equipment, aerospace products, electronics and electrical equipment, water purification systems and automotive interiors. The LeeP plastic composite springs are stocked in a variety of standard sizes, each available in a "rainbow" of strengths formulated from Ultem with various levels of fiber reinforcement.