- Polymethylpentene
Polymethylpentene or TPX is a
thermoplastic polymer ofmethylpentene monomer units. It is used for gas permeable packaging, autoclavable medical and laboratory equipment, microwave components, and cookware.Production
Polymethylpentene is a 4-methyl-1-pentene based linear
isotactic polyolefin and is made byZiegler-Natta typecatalysis . The commercially available grades are usuallycopolymers . It can be extruded and molded (byinjection molding orblow molding ).Physical properties
Polymethylpentene melts at ≈ 240 °C. It has a very low
density (0.83 g·cm³) and is transparent. It has excellent chemical resistance, low moisture absorption, and exceptional acoustical and electrical properties. Its properties are reasonably similar to those of other polyolefins, although it is morebrittle and more gas permeable.Applications
Applications include sonar covers, speaker cones, ultrasonic transducer heads, and lightweight structural parts. It is also FDA compliant for use in food processing machinery. Polymethylpentene is often used in films and coatings for gas permeable packaging.
Because of its high
melting point and good temperature stability, polymethylpentene is used for autoclavable medical and laboratory equipment, microwave components, and cookware.It is also often used in electrical components e.g.
LED molds because it is an excellentelectrical insulator .TPX is a hard solid material which can be mechanically shaped into various optical components like lenses and windows. Also specifically TPX is used in CO2 laser pumped molecular lasers as output window because it is transparent in the whole
terahertz range and totally suppresses the ~10 µm pump radiation.In comparison to other materials being used for operating in THz range TPX shows excellent optical properties.
External links
* [http://www.mitsuichemicals.com/tpx.htm Mitsui Chemicals, Inc.]
* [http://www.goodfellow.com/csp/active/static/A/Polymethylpentene.HTML Polymethylpentene(TPX) - Material properties]
* [http://www.tydex.ru Tydex J.S.Co. - Manufacturer of polished TPX lenses and windows]
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