Treofan and Borealis win Innovation Award for ultra-thin film
BOPP specialist, Treofan and polyolefins specialist, Borealis, have received the award for ‘Best Lightweight Innovation’ at the first European Plastic Innovation Awards for their cooperation in creating the thinnest polypropylene capacitor film, down to 1.9 µm.
New ‘PHD 1.9’ is the first European polypropylene capacitor film thinner than 2μm and is said to boost capacitor efficiency by 30 percent.
The film was made with Borclean HC310BF, a high crystallinity, super pure homo-polypropylene with a novel molecular design that enables the production of ultra-thin, metallisable dielectrical film for dry capacitors with increased thermal stability.
Polypropylene capacitor films are used in the production of dry, metalised capacitors for a variety of applications, but specifically in automotive applications for hybrid and electric motor systems, there is a need for high thermal stability and low volume in order to save space and reduce costs for the cooling systems. Thus, extremely thin films with a high level of thermal and electrical resistance are needed.
Treofan is developing these ultra-thin capacitor films with a high level of thickness homogeneity, electrical field stressability, low energy losses and very good mechanical characteristics using Borealis’ Borclean super pure, high isotactic polypropylene homopolymer with a novel polymer design.
The thinness of the film enables the capacitor producer to develop much smaller systems with the same electrical capacity. Treofan and Borealis are planning to further improve these films by further reducing thickness to increase volume efficiency, thermal resistance and voltage levels.
“Developing ultra-thin capacitor films is the perfect reflection of our innovation strategy, which focuses on including the entire value chain - from raw materials and processing to the end consumer," explained Dr. Yvonne Düpre, Head of Innovation at Treofan Germany.
The European Plastics Innovation Awards were created in 2015 by three organisations: European Plastics Converters (EuPC), PlasticsEurope and the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE). The inaugural ceremony was held in Brussels earlier this year.