Feiplastic ’19: vehicle electrification to expand use of PC in automobiles – Covestro

Zachary Moore

24-Apr-2019

SAO PAULO (ICIS)–The ongoing trend of vehicle electrification is likely to lead to increased use of polycarbonate (PC) and PC blends in the automotive sector, executives with Covestro stated on the sidelines of this year’s Feiplastic.

“PC is currently most commonly used in LED headlight casing in the automotive sector. We believe that the cars of the future will feature more interior light and that this will spur additional demand for PC in cars,” Luis Carlos Sohler, PCS LATAM Commercial Operations with Covestro stated.

“The impact resistance properties of PC along with its translucency will allow PC and PC blends a greater presence in the interior of the cars of the future.  PC films are also likely to be more widely used in cars as the translucency of PC makes it a good choice for touch-screen panels,” Sohler said.

Covestro is also developing PC blended products for use in the battery packs of electric vehicles.

“We do not see much interpolymer substitution between PC and other engineering plastics such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) as these products typically predominate in their own niche applications. PC and ABS are often blended together and these blends are frequently used in the automotive sector,” Sohler commented.

PC is mainly used for electronic applications as it is a good electrical insulator and has heat-resistant and flame-retardant properties.

Feira Internacional do Plastico (Feiplastic) takes place on 22-26 April in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Interview article by Zachary Moore

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