Panipol Oy manufactures polyaline based inherently conductive polymers (CP). Panipol Oy was founded and spun off from Finnish Neste Oy (today Fortum) 1998. Panipol technology is based on the extensive research and development of conductive polymers done by Neste since 1982. The whole technology gathered since 1982, including large portfolioof patents, was transferred to Panipol. The technology includes work done at Uniax - joint venture of Neste and Nobel Prize winner Alan Heeger. Since the separation from Neste in 1998 Panipol has continued to apply for more patents.

CONDUCTIVE PLASTICS

Traditionally conductive plastics are made by filling the resin with various conductive particles such as carbon black and metal particles. The target is to use enough conductive fillers in the resin so that the percolation threshold will be exceeded.

When that limit's exceeded the conductivity has been achieved. Panipol's melt processable CX forms an interpenetrating conductive network within the resin in such a manner that the result percolation is smooth and linear within the optimal ESD range. At the same time the required loading levels are clearly lower than with typical filler systems.

TARGET
The main target application of Panipol CX based blends is ESD (Electro Static Discharge) protection. The goal is to achieve correct conductivity so that:

• Material is slightly conductive to provide path to ground
• Slightly resistive to slow discharge and drain charge to ground in a controlled manner

NOTES
Panipol CX compositions ithstand temperatures as high as 240°C for short periods of times. Resins used with Panipol CX at this moment include PP, PE, PS, EMA, EPDM, PC/ABS. More to come.