PolyOne conductive polymers light up swimming pools

A partnership between PolyOne and Akboru Elektrik, a supplier of lights for pools, hot tubs and gardens, has replaced aluminium for heat sinks in LED swimming pool lighting.

Akboru believes the collaboration has tripled the lifetime of its’ LED pool lights.

Zafer Alkan, General Manager of Akboru Elektrik, said: “Our company is always on the lookout for innovative new materials to help us improve our manufacturing efficiency and the quality of our products.

“PolyOne was able to formulate the material we wanted, and provided excellent support to our company during the design and manufacturing phases of the product’s introduction.”

LED lights are much more efficient than incandescent bulbs at turning electricity into light, but still generate heat. The diodes that produce light in LEDs are sensitive to high temperatures. As a result, aluminium heat sinks are often used to draw heat away from the diode to extend its performance over time. However, aluminium parts are heavier and expensive to manufacture, where conductive polymers give mouldable design options.

Akboru Elektrik, based in Istanbul, Turkey could increase its daily production rates for the lighting by up to 25 per cent with the switch to polymer heat sinks.

Holger Kronimus, PolyOne General Manager for Speciality Engineered Materials, Europe, said: “Our Therma-Tech materials are rapidly becoming an industry standard for metal replacement in LED lighting systems, and we are pleased that Akboru Elektrik collaborated with us on this successful product launch.

“We have tremendous experience supporting manufacturers with thermal and mould flow analysis, and helping them optimise their processing efficiency, making it possible for customers to achieve significant reductions in total part cost.”