DuPont Chemicals and Fluoroproducts (Europe: Geneva / Switzerland; www.dupont.com) will be displaying a range of products for the wire and cable industry at the international wire and cable trade fair, “Wire 2014” (www.wire-tradefair.com), to be held from 7 to 11 April 2014 in Düsseldorf / Germany. The company’s exhibit includes a class of melt-extrudable perfluoroplastics with continuous service temperatures of 300°C and fluoroplastic foam resins enabling miniaturisation and weight savings.

A recent addition to the company’s range, “ECCtreme” ECA is a class of melt-extrudable perfluoroplastics which combines the mechanical, electrical and chemical properties of PTFE with high thermal stability. The company said that at a thickness of 0.75 mm, the material has an RTI (relative thermal index) listing of 300°C, exceeding the earlier upper limit of 260°C for conventional perfluoroplastic insulating materials.

The grades can be processed on conventional extrusion equipment for high-temperature fluoroplastics using standard processing conditions. Downstream heat treatment (epitaxial co-crystallisation) improves the material’s thermal resistance and offers improved mechanical properties, such as long-term tensile modulus and improved stress cracking resistance, the company said. The material is suitable for wire and cable insulations that are exposed to extreme service conditions such as very high temperatures, elevated pressures and corrosive surroundings.

Other products to be demonstrated at the fair include “Teflon” fluoroplastic foam resins (FFR), which can be employed in the manufacture of cables to impart a lower signal return loss than conventional data cables, enabling miniaturisation and weight savings thanks to lower density and thinner insulation thicknesses. For example, a “Quad” data cable for the aerospace industry, produced in France using the material, is claimed to be up to 25% lighter than previously used quad cables at identical diameter, enabling a reduction in aircraft fuel consumption.