Some Of The Many Uses Of Polyimide Film

By Dawn Williams


For many people the mention of polyimide film is met with a blank look. Yet it might surprise these people to find out how extensively its used in the modern world today. Thanks to the properties possessed by this material it has proved to be extremely useful. They are lightweight, very flexible and resistant to both heat and chemicals.

A couple of these properties make it an ideal material for use with modern electronics. A common example that illustrates this point is the flat flexible cable which connects the body of a laptop to the screen. It is easy to understand the need for flexibility as a laptop is opened and closed on such a regular basis.

Should you see a dismantled laptop, then you ought to be able to identify this flexible cable. Just look for the amber colored flat cable. The copper tracks which carry the information between the screen and the body will be easy to see.

Quite often the copper tracks will be sealed to the amber colored sheet by an adhesive. Due to the insulation qualities of this amber sheeting it is even possible for the copper tracks to be mounted on either side of the sheet. In such instances further insulation is required to prevent the outer faces of the copper tracks shorting against the casing. Also this sheeting can be utilized to mask printed circuit boards, and capacitors, transistors and similar devices can also be insulated.

Possibly one of the most important factors that this material has is the heat resistance. As a consequence this material can often be used in areas which would be subjected to high temperatures. The material will withstand temperatures into the region of 800 degrees Fahrenheit.

Routinely any material which becomes affected by heat will either distort or degrade. It will either shrink or stretch. Either effect will cause the affected material to become unfit for the original purpose. Its therefore a real plus when you note that this material suffers virtually no obvious effects when subjected to the same treatment. In fact the only thing that people might notice will be a slight darkening.

This material was first used in the defense industries and by the military. Since its entrance into the civilian world it has slowly become more and more common, as its range of applications has grown. This can occur anywhere between the space agencies and micro electronics.

Engines are a prime example, as they operate they become hot. Engines can be found throughout the vehicle industries, aviation industries and even space flight. The sheeting is highly resistant to heat, and so will not conduct heat from one side to the other. Therefore it is ideal if something needs to be protected from conducted heat, such as engine cables. If these cables were unprotected the normal insulation could degrade over time and lead to other potential problems.

Another property that this polyimide film demonstrates is that it is extremely hard wearing. This will mean that there will be less necessity to constantly replace these items, and in turn this will lead to cost savings. So it really does make sense for industries to make even more use of this material.




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