Boedeker Plastics Uses Topas® Cyclic Olefin Copolymer to Offer First Line of COC Stock Shapes
Florence, Ky., and Frankfurt, Germany, 10 April 2006 - Boedeker Plastics in Shiner, Texas, has begun offering the first line of cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) stock shapes for prototyping and other uses. The line, which is made with Topas® COC, consists of extruded sheets and rods in five grades. The sheets measure 24 x 48 in. and are 1 in. thick, while the rods have diameters of 2.5 in.
The grades offered give engineers and designers a wide range of performance options. These are an optical grade, an electrical grade having a high heat deflection temperature and exceptional dielectric properties, two medical grades, including one suitable for steam sterilization, and a grade having high UV transmission for diagnostic and drug discovery applications.
"Our new COC stock shapes can be machined as prototype parts that then can be tested before an investment is made in mold tooling", says Chuck Wiedenhoefer, National Sales Manager at Boedeker. "This line opens up new performance options for our customers, especially given Topas COC's optical clarity, moisture barrier and biocompatibility. We have all the grades in our new line on hand and can ship COC shapes the same day they are ordered."
Topas COC offers many performance benefits. It is highly transparent, provides outstanding barrier to moisture and alcohol, and offers good rigidity, strength and electrical insulation properties. It resists acids and alkalis and most polar organic solvents and has excellent biocompatibility. Its heat deflection temperature is as high as 170 °C (340 °F) and it has minimal moisture absorption, low birefringence and low shrinkage and warpage. It also allows for easy disposal and recycling and forms only water and carbon dioxide when properly combusted.
Topas COC is used in injection molding, extrusion and other processes in such applications as: pharmaceutical, medical device and personal care blister packaging; flexible films for food packaging; prefillable syringes and other pharmaceutical primary packaging; medical diagnostic components; optical elements like lenses and light guides; and toner binder for color printers.
For More Information
To obtain additional information on stock shapes made with Topas COC, contact: Chuck Wiedenhoefer, Boedeker Plastics, Inc., 904 West 6th Street, Shiner, Texas 77984. Toll free: 1-800-444-3485. Phone: 512/246-8920. E-Mail: chuckw@boedeker.com. Or visit: www@boedeker.com.
To learn more about Topas COC, contact:
o In North America: Topas Advanced Polymers, Inc., 8040 Dixie Highway, Florence, KY, U.S., Tel.: +1 859-746-6447.
o In Europe: Topas Advanced Polymers GmbH, Industriepark Höchst, Gebäude F821, 65926 Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Tel.: +49 (0) 1805-1-86727
o By e-mail: info@topas.com. Or visit: www.topas.com.
About Boedeker
Boedeker Plastics offers a wide variety of engineering and industrial plastics and the support to find a plastic to fit an application. Its CNC machine shop can create parts from CAD files for prototypes and production runs. It is located in Shiner, Texas about half-way between Houston and San Antonio. For more information visit: www@boedeker.com.
About Topas Advanced Polymers
Topas Advanced Polymers manufactures and markets Topas COC for advanced packaging, medical, optical and other applications worldwide. It also supplies Crystal Dew® COC, which adds decorative highlights to many settings, and the chemical raw material norbornene. It is a joint venture of Daicel Chemical Industries Ltd., and Polyplastics Co., Ltd. Headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, it has a U.S. subsidiary in Florence, Ky., and operates a 30,000-metric ton/year COC plant, the world's largest, in Oberhausen, Germany. Topas Advanced Polymers was launched January 1, 2006, following the purchase of the Topas business from Ticona, a subsidiary of Celanese Corporation. For more information visit: www.topas.com.
Press Contact:
Michael Bratnick
CoreCom
Phone:908-204-0730
Berad Sparenberg
Topas Advanced Polymers, Inc.
Phone:859-746-6447
e-mail:info@topas.com
website:www.topas.com
