CEH Report

Table of Contents

Abstract

Liquid crystal polymers (LCPs) are a unique group of linear polymers that can align themselves parallel to one another to form a liquid crystal phase. This alignment is "self-reinforcing," resulting in outstanding mechanical properties associated with a high degree of orientation. In the melt and under shear such as during injection molding, LCPs exhibit very low viscosity and high flow to completely fill small and intricate molds, making LCPs the favorite choice for making miniature and ultrathin parts down to 0.1 mm wall thickness with extremely short cycle time. LCPs compete with other high performance thermoplastics and engineering resins, including PPS (polyphenylene sulfide), PPA (polyphthalamide), PCT (polycyclohexylenedimethylene terephthalate) and nylon 46, but the best of the competing resins can only fill walls down to 0.25 mm at most and with longer cycle times during injection molding.

LCPs' unique combination of high stiffness, high temperature resistance and high flow bodes well with the growing trend of miniaturization in the electronics industry and the increasing popularity of microinjection molding. Applications such as connectors with high pin density have been driving the remarkable growth in LCP consumption.

The following pie chart shows world consumption of liquid crystal polymers:

Ticona LLC is the largest producer of LCP, with a global capacity share of 31%. Together with DuPont, Sumitomo Chemical Co. and Daicel Chemical Industries, the four largest market players have a share of 81% of global capacity.

World consumption of LCPs is expected to grow at an average annual rate of just over 9%. At this rate, capacity must grow at approximately 5-6% per year just to satisfy world demand. The new Ticona production plant in China due in 2010 will not be sufficient, and further capacity increases are needed. It is expected that future expansions will most likely be in Asia, mainly China, as well as in Japan. No capacity increases are planned for Europe or the United States.