Improving strength up to 10% and stiffness by about as much, then increasing toughness up to 50%, Hostaform HS15 takes aim at sectors where POM has already done well: automotive, fluid handling, sports, conveying, and consumer applications. But Ticona changed the material's chemical backbone to raise its game.

Calling it a new generation of POM that's clearly different from existing copolymers, Vincent Notorgiacomo, the company's POM product manager for the Americas, said it offers much wider design latitude. "That's why our near-term plans focus on applications that were impossible for our POM products in the past," he said, "Ones that were previously addressed using polyamides or metals."

In addition to its mechanical properties, Ticona says Hostaform HS15 can lower costs with improved processing and thermal stability, has the broadest design space of any acetal POM marketed today, and provides excellent resistance to hot water, auto fuels, and concentrated alkaline solutions (pH4-pH14). The combination, says the company, means customers now can use POM in applications that were previously out of its reach.