Mitsui releases COC in North America

Mitsui Chemicals America Inc. (Purchase, NY), a division of Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (Minato-ku, Tokyo) last week announced APEL, a cyclo olefin copolymer (COC) for the North and South American markets.
APEL will be available in film and resin form.
Developed using the Zeigler polymerization process, APEL has a lower birefringence and the highest refractive index 1.54 among commercialized COCs and other cyclo olefin polymers, the company said.
This makes it ideal for use in high-performance film, optical lens and packaging applications such as DVD players, recorders and SACD players, shrink film and in pharmaceutical packaging such as blister packs.
One of the first major commercial applications for COC was a five-layer laminated film, thermoformed into blister packs for Bayer Aspirin in Indonesia, according to an article by Jan H. Schut at Plastics Technology.
Ticona Engineering Polymers (Florence, KY) is currently North America’s biggest supply of COC’s, marketed under the name, Topas. COCs are only available from a handful of suppliers from around the world, according to Schut’s article.
Properties of COCs include (according to Azom.com):
– Glass-like transparency and high light transmittance
– Low dielectric loss
– Low water absorption
– Low outgassing
– Excellent dimensional stability
– High heat resistance
– Good chemical resistance
– Hydrophobic properties
– High melt flow rates, allowing precise molding
– Lower density compared to glass