INTRODUCTION
Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) is a hard, stiff, strong, dimensionally stable material that absorbs very little water. It has good gas barrier properties and good chemical resistance except to alkalis (which hydrolyse it). Its crystallinity varies from amorphous to fairly high crystalline; it can be highly transparent and colourless but thicker sections are usually opaque and off-white.
4PET® is the registered trade mark for Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) compounds produced by 4PLAS, we offer a wide range of PET compounds which also includes post consumer value added recycled grades. These cost effective products give competitive advantages not only in material costs but also in environmental regulations and commitments.
PROPERTIES
4PET® compounds offer the following key properties:
- Excellent stiffness and hardness
- Good mechanical strength
- Good creep and fatigue behaviour
- Very good thermal stability
- Excellent flammability resistance
- Good electrical properties
- High wear resistance and low friction
- Good dimensional stability
- Very good chemical resistance
- Excellent flow and processing properties
- Low moisture absorption
- Very good surface finish
PRODUCTS
With the addition of a wide range of modifiers, stabilisers, speciality additives and customised colours, 4PET® can be compounded as:
- Unreinforced
- Impact modified
- Glass fibre reinforced
- Glass bead reinforced
- Mineral filled and reinforced
- Carbon fibre reinforced
- Flame retardant including UL listed grades
- Low warpage
- Lubricated
- Heat stabilised
- Surface modified
- UV/ light stabilised
- Electrically conductive
- Laser markable
- 4TECH®
For individual grades or to search using a wide range of criteria please use our interactive material selector.
Our standard range is comprehensive, however should you not find what you are looking for within the data available on this website, we offer Custom Compounds to suit the requirements of specific applications.
If you would like advice on selecting suitable materials, or you cannot find what you are looking for, please contact us and one of our team will be pleased to assist you.
PACKAGING
4PET® grades are supplied in pellet form and packed in moisture proof 25kg multi-layer bags. Other forms of packaging such as octabins and big- bags with PE or Aluminium liners are also available.
DRYING
For PET compounds, moisture content should be less than 0.02%, before processing. Moisture causes immediate hydrolytic degradation during processing, therefore 4PET® grades should be dried at 120°C to 140°C for 4 hours.
It is highly recommended that drying is conducted using desiccant driers. The performance of the desiccant drier depends on the dew point that indicates air moisture content. In order to obtain sufficient drying dew point values should be set below -20°C.
As the atmospheric humidity levels cannot be controlled the use of air circulating ovens or driers are not recommended.
PROCESSING
4PET® compounds can be processed on all commercial injection moulding machinery.
It is necessary to have precise temperature control for processing PET compounds. The temperature of the nozzle is also very important in order to avoid thermal loss or overheating.
Short open nozzles are recommended to reduce shear. In general nozzle diameters should be 3 to 6mm.
For more information on this product, see our processing guides, troubleshooting guides and chemical resistance charts.
RECYCLING
Regrind levels up to 25% can be used depending on the application and requirements. However, for flame retardant grades a maximum 10% addition rate is recommended. Regrind should be free of contamination, should not be thermally degraded and must be dry as moulded, or be dried prior to reuse.
SAFETY
Under normal conditions 4PET® is not a toxic or hazardous material. During processing preventative action should be taken to avoid direct contact with the polymer melt or inhalation of any gases produced. Processing temperatures above 320°C should be avoided. Detailed safety information can be found in our material safety data sheets (MSDS).