Bayer Makrolon Polycarbonate products give you a great blend of beneficial features this includes temp resistance, impact resistance and optical properties position polycarbonates in between commodity plastics and engineering materials.
Polycarbonate is a very sturdy material. Though it features high impact-resistance, it has got lower scratch-resistance and so a hard coating typically is applied to polycarbonate eye protection lenses as well as polycarbonate exterior motor vehicle equipment. The properties of polycarbonate are generally similar to those of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA, acrylic), but polycarbonate is always stronger, it is usable in a wider temperature range and is a bit more expensive. This plastic polymer is highly transparent to visible light and it has better light transmission characteristics than many kinds of glass.
Polycarbonate carries a glass transition temperature of about 150 °C (302 °F), therefore it softens slowly above this point and flows above about 300°C (572 °F). Tools ought to be held at warm to high temperatures, generally above 80 °C (176 °F) to help make strain- and reduced stress products.
Unlike almost all other thermoplastics, polycarbonate can undergo massive changes in basic shape without cracking or breaking. Hence, it can be processed and formed  cold using standard sheet metal techniques, for example forming bends with a brake. For even sharp angle bends having a tight radius, no heating is generally necessary. This makes it attractive prototyping applications where transparent or electrically non-conductive parts are crucial, which can not be created from sheet metal. Understand that PMMA/Plexiglas, which happens to be similar in appearance to polycarbonate, but it’s brittle and can’t be bent without heating.
The light weight of polycarbonate, as opposed to glass, has led to development of electronic display screens that replace glass materials with polycarbonate, for use in mobile and portable devices. Such displays include newer e-ink and a few LCD screens, though CRT, plasma screen and other LCD technologies generally still require glass for its higher melting temperature and its ability to be etched with finer detail.
Other types of items fabricated from Polycarbonate include durable, lightweight luggage, MP3/digital audio player cases, computer cases, police riot shields, instrument panels, and blender jars. Many toys and hobby items are produced from polycarbonate parts, e.g. fins, gyro mounts, and flybar locks for use with radio-controlled helicopters.
For use in applications subjected to weathering or UV-radiation, a special surface treatment maybe needed. This can be a coating (e.g. for improved abrasion resistance), or perhaps the coextrusion for enhanced weathering resistance.
Bayer Makrolon Polycarbonate is a thermoplastic that starts as a solid material in the form of small pellets. In a manufacturing process called injection molding, the pelletized resin is heated until they melt and become a very thick liquid. The melted liquid polycarbonate is then rapidly pushed into a mold, compressed under high pressure and cooled to create a finished product in less than a minute.
