Plastics producer Borealis (Vienna / Austria; www.borealisgroup.com) and cycloolefin copolymer (COC) specialist Topas Advanced Polymers (Frankfurt / Germany; www.topas.com) have announced the joint development of a new class of engineering material for thin, highly heat-resistant capacitor film applications.

The hope is that the ethylene-propylene-norbornene (EPN) material will raise the temperature resistance of film capacitors by between 20C and 35C compared to capacitors made of standard polymers. This would close the current gap between conventional polymers and costly high-temperature plastics by enabling the use of polymeric film capacitors at temperatures of up to 140C.

The new material would be designed for the production of ultra-thin and highly consistent films in the range of 2-6 µ. It is targeted for use on biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film processing machines. The material is expected to make traction inverters for electric mobility more energy efficient at higher temperatures.

Topas is a JV of Polyplastics (Tokyo / Japan; www.polyplastics.com) and its parent company Daicel (Osaka / Japan; www.daicel.com).