On January 21, 2021, Toray Industries announced that the company has developed a new polymer that retains the excellent heat resistance, rigidity and strength of polyamide 6 (PA6), and its bending fatigue The limit is 15 times that of traditional polymers. The application prospects of this excellent durability include automobiles, home appliances and sporting goods. Toray plans to start comprehensive sample work in fiscal 2021, while cultivating applications in different industrial materials.
PA6 is an engineering plastic that has a wide range of uses, including automobile engine compartments and appliance housings. PA6 resin is added with flexible elastomer to resist fatigue and optimize life. However, the price of doing so is reduced heat resistance, rigidity and strength of PA6. Therefore, for many years, it has been a challenge to develop a new material that can provide all these desirable properties.
Toray focuses on polyoxanes with sliding molecular bonds as a polymer whose structure can move with external forces. The company strives to balance the inherent properties and fatigue resistance of PA6 by finely dispersing polyoxane in the resin.
Toray utilizes proprietary Nano alloy® microstructure control technology to maximize its effectiveness by dispersing polyoxane in 10-nanometer PA6 crystals. The resulting flexible stress dispersion mechanism led to the birth of new polymers. Tests conducted at the SPring-8 synchrotron radiation facility in Japan have confirmed that the new polymer can inhibit the changes in the crystal structure of PA6 when subjected to external forces.
Toray will give full play to its core capabilities in synthetic organic chemistry, polymer chemistry, biotechnology, and nanotechnology to create new value and contribute to society.
Elastomer-The name comes from an elastic polymer, which refers to a material that can return to its original shape after a lot of stretching. Polyoxane-is a supramolecular polymer with a beaded or necklace-like structure, and its molecules are composed of strings and rings.
Nano alloy®-Toray`s micro-structure control technology has greatly improved the performance of polymers by finely dispersing various polymers at the nanometer level.
SPring-8-Synchrotron radiation refers to the electromagnetic radiation emitted by charged particles when they are accelerated in the radial direction. It has the characteristics of high brightness and high directivity. SPring-8, located in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, is one of the largest synchrotron radiation facilities in the world.