New Altuglas Luctor medical grade PMMA alloy offers faster flow rate for thin wall injection
Altuglas International, a subsidiary of Arkema group, introduces the Altuglas Luctor, a bisphenol A (BPA) free polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) alloy that flows twice far as conventional transparent medical polymers in thin wall injection mold cavities.
With this new material, devices such as intravenous (IV) line components can be molded with thinner wall sections, using multi-cavity molds to reduce material and processing costs, says Altuglas.
"Altuglas Luctor PMMA alloy was primarily designed to improve product and processing costs for PMMA components," said Kirsten Makel, Altuglas International's North American Resins Business Director. "However, the IPA resistance of this alloy makes it more than a high-flow acrylic."
Material costs can be reduced by designing components with thinner wall sections. Processing costs can be reduced by decreasing sprue and runner sizes and increasing the number of cavities in multi-cavity molds. These savings can only be achieved with materials that offer substantial improvements in melt flow, explains Altuglas International.
According to the material supplier, Altuglas Luctor PMMA alloy is a chemical resistant, transparent polymer that offers a step-wise improvement in flow over traditional transparent polymers, such as PMMA and polycarbonate. This new PMMA alloy flows 838mm in injection mold cavities with dimensions of 2.5mm thick and 12.7mm wide, more than double that of traditional chemical resistant acrylic and polycarbonate (PC).
The superior chemical resistance properties of Altuglas Luctor PMMA alloy allow it to replace PC in IV line components, such as luers, says Altuglas International. Like traditional PMMA, this new alloy is resistant to fats (also known as lipids) and plasticizers used in other polymer components, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) tubing. Similar to PC, the alloy is resistant to isopropyl alcohol (IPA) which is used extensively for cleaning medical devices.
