German company Bieglo (Hamburg; www.bieglo.com) has been appointed to distribute Mitsui Chemicals’ (Tokyo / Japan; www.mitsuichem.com) thermoplastic polyimide (TPI) powder in Europe, including Switzerland and the UK. According to Bieglo, the “Aurum” high-performance polymer offers advantages such as a high glass transition temperature of 245 °C and good mechanical and chemical properties over a wide range of temperatures.

Typical applications for polyimide are washers, ball-bearing cages, dry bearings, seals and gears for the aerospace, automotive and other industries. Aurum is also suitable for coatings and cleanroom applications due to low amounts of outgassing and metallic contaminants, says the company. The material can be compounded and processed like other thermoplastics.

With a growing demand for high-performance plastics, the Hamburg-based distributor is focusing on the high-temperature segment. In addition to CoPEEK from Panjin Zhongrun High Performance Polymer (Panjin, Liaoning / China; www.pjzrhpp.com.cn), Bieglo distributes thermoset PI semi-finished products (rods and sheets) from Saint-Gobain’s (Paris / France; www.saint-gobain.com) “Meldin” 7000 series and polyamide-imide (PAI).