Ultem Polyetherimide Resin

General Electric Company, Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The Comprehensive Guide to Material Properties, Design, Processing and Secondary Operations, ULTEM Polyetherimide Resin, ULT 20 (undated). 

Johnson, R. O., and Jafry, S., Ultem Polyetherimide Resin for the Medical Industry, Medical Design and Manufacturing Conference Proceedings II, Jime 2,1998, pp. 203-33 to 203-37. 

Udel. Polysulfone resin. Amoco Performance Products, Inc. Ultem. Polyetherimide resins. GE Plastics. 

Udel Polysulfone, BP Amoco Ultem Polyetherimide resin, sheet, GE Ultra Black RTV silicone, Loctite Ultradur B PBT thermoplastic polyester, BASF... 

Uitem 1000, Ultem 1010] Ultem 1613, 1668] Uitem 4000r, Ultem 4001] Ultem 6000, Ultem 8000 Series] Ultem 9000 Series] Ultem CRS5001] Ultem CRS5011] Ultem FXU100. See Polyetherimide resin Ultra NCS Liquid. See Ammonium cumenesulfonate Ultra NXS Liquid. See Ammonium xylenesulfonate... 

Amylcinnamal diethyl acetal 60763-44-2 Linalyl methyl ether 60788-25-2 Citronellyl ethyloxalate 60800-63-7 Heparin ammonium SPL Heparin Ammonium 60828-78-6 lsolaureth-3 lsolaureth-6 lsolaureth-8 lsolaureth-10 lsolaureth-12 Surfonic DDA-3 Surfonic DDA-6 Surfonic DDA-8 Surfonic DDA-12 Tergitol TMN-3 Tergitol TMN-6 Tergitol TMN-10 60837-57-2 Anoxomer 60842-32-2 Aerosil R974 Silica dimethyl silylate 60908-77-2 Isohexadecane 60932-58-3 Carboxybenzotriazole Cobratec CBT 61128-46-9 Danar 1000 Danar 1005 PDX-84367 Polyetherimide resin Thermocomp E-1000 Ultem 1000 Ultem 1010 Ultem 1613, 1668 Ultem 4000 Ultem 4001 Ultem 6000 Ultem 8000 Series... 

In 1999 The General Electric Corporation developed a superior synthetic process for its ULTEM polyetherimide that allowed the resin to be made at a saving of 25% of the direct energy used for the process. The new approach also resulted in substantial reduction of the process waste that required disposal or treatment. (A Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award recognized this particular innovation in 1999.)... 

The GE Advanced Materials operation includes high-performance engineered plastics, structured products silicones and high-purity quartzware. The company s range of engineering resins includes Cycolac ABS, Cycoloy PC/ABS blend, Geloy, Lexan PC, Noryl, high temperature Ultem polyetherimide, Valox PBT, Xenoy and Xylex polymer blends. 

Recent developments from GE Advanced Materials include ILLUMINEX display film and the X Gen product range where X stands for extreme. These products are said to push the boundaries in terms of aesthetics, high/low temperature performance, weather and chemical resistance, mechanical and electrical tolerance. For example the XHT grade of Ultem polyetherimide has been described by GE as the highest heat, injection mouldable amorphous resin available today. Appfications include flexible PCB able to withstand the new high soldering temperatures and moulded electrical interconnect devices. 

Attention has been paid to the possible use of multilayer coextrusion of engineering resins for dual ovenable containers, as multilayer packaging could increase shelf stability and thus eliminate the need for freezing or refrigeration. One multilayer combination in commercial use is a sheet of Lexan polycarbonate sandwiched between layers of Ultem polyetherimide. Thermoformed trays of this material are reported to have better break resistance at lower temperatures and higher stiffness at temperatures up to 232°C, as compared to CPET. They are also insert, compatible with polyester lidding materials, and have lower oxygen permeability than PET materials. 

GE Plastics is the world s principal supplier of polyetherimide resins and compounds. Manufacturing facilities are located at Mt. Vernon, Indiana, USA, and at Moka, Japan. Total production capacity for Ultem is currently around 15,000 tpa. 

Ultem resin blends are designed to fill the gap between polycarbonate and polyetherimide resins. Key features are good flow, intermediate heat performance and price. Blends include Ultem 1285, Ultem ATX, a polycarbonate-ester blend, and Ultem HTX. 

Diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-A (DGEBA), epoxy resin (YD 128, Kuk Do Chem., Mn = 378), and bisphenol-A dicyanate (BPACY, Arocy B-10, Ciba-Geigy) were used as the thermoset resin. 4,4 -diaminodiphenyl sulfone (DDS, Aldrich Chem. Co.) was used as a curing agent for epoxy. Polyetherimide (PEI, Ultem 1000, General Electric Co., M = 18,000) and 2-methyl imidazole (2MZ, Aldrich Chem. Co.) were used as the thermoplastic modifier and catalyst. 

Not all polyetherimides are limited by their tractability, however. Certain aromatic polyetherimides are characterized by a combination of properties that makes them potential engineering thermoplastics (90). One of these polymers contains an isopropylidene unit in the backbone to enhance the solubility. It is a mol ding material introduced by General Electric in 1981 and sold as Ultem resin. Attractive features include high temperature stability, flame resistance without added halogen or phosphoms, high strength, solvent resistance, hydrolytic stability, and injection moldability. 

The newest engineering thermoplastic is a polyetherimide that was formally announced by General Electric Company in 1982 (16). This amorphous polymer is designated Ultem resin and resulted from the research work of a team headed by J. G. Wirth in the early 1970s (9). The early laboratory process involved a costly and difficult synthesis. Further development resulted in a number of breakthroughs that led to a simplified, cost-effective production process. The final step of the process involves the imidization of a diacid anhydride with m-phenylene diamine (Figure 13). 

Both polysulfone and the polyetherimide are thermojdaslics whieh withstand higher temperatures than epoxies such as DGEBA. The effect of (43) a polysulfone (Udel, 43a) and polyetherimide (Ultem, 43b) thermoplastics on the properties of a tetra-2,3-epoxypropylamine, N,N,N, N -tetra-2,3-epoxypropyl-, -bis(4-aminophenyl)-p-diiso-propenylbenzene (HPT Resin 1071,43c) has been studied and also the effect of these thermoplastics on the resin di-2,3-epoxypropyl-9,9-bis (hydro phenyl)fluorene (HPT Resin 1079,43d). Both these resins have a stiff backbone and were developed for use as amatrix resin for advanced composites. They can be cured with the aromatic dianune, -bis(3,5-dimethyl-4-aminophenyl)-p-diisopropylbenzene (43e). These resin curing agent combinations exhibit greatly improved hot/wet performaiKe over that of traditional epoxies. 

In recent years the focus has been on the high performance, specialty resins. For example, polyetherimide, PEI, was commercialized in 1983. In tlie ensuing two years its blends with most engineering and specialty polymers were patented. Since 1990 PEI C blends, Ultem LTX , have been available from GEC. 

Polyetherimides are a new family of condensation polymers. The key reaction step in each of their synthetic sequences is an aromatic nitro-displacement reaction which produces the diaryl ether linkages in high yield. Physical properties can be varied over a wide range depending on the choices of bis-phenol, diamine, and positional isomer incorporated into the backbone of the polymer. Our study of these materials has led to the commercial introduction of ULTEM Resin as the first in a series of new high performance engineering thermoplastics. 

These are very demanding end uses with tough standards including lire resistance. National Nonwovens recently launched their Ultra-ProTechtor lire blocker range for aircraft seating applications. These fabrics use fibres made from SABlC s flame-retardant ULTEM resin, a polyetherimide material [14]. 

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