High-Performance

Polymers explained (part 1)

The widespread use of polymers has revolutionized our
lives in the last 75 years or so. There is a wide range from
every-day commodity plastics up to high-performance
polymers (HPP), such as VICTREX™ PEEK, that are able
to perform in very demanding durable applications.

John Grasmeder, Chief Scientist, 11 May, 2017

Centuries ago, the Greeks could not have known that their word “polymeres”, meaning
“having many parts”, would today serve as the name for a whole class of materials. A
polymer can be defined as a substance which has a molecular structure built up from a large
number of similar units (called monomers) bonded together.

Let’s not forget that Nature invented polymers first – proteins, carbohydrates, your hair,
fingernails, even your DNA is a polymer. Man-made polymers came along much later but
today are ubiquitous and play an essential role in modern life.  

There are currently about 300 million tonnes of polymers made annually, representing ~6%
of oil and gas consumption globally. They fall into two broad categories – thermosets and
thermoplastics. Thermosets are polymers which typically start as viscous liquids which when
subjected to heat or pressure harden to form a solid which cannot be melted again. Araldite®
glue is an example. Thermoplastics, the subject of this article, soften and melt to be shaped
when heated and then harden once cooled. They can be remelted and reshaped.

The pyramid of polymers

One of the easiest ways to understand this complex topic is to view polymers as a pyramid.
This identifies three major categories of polymers:

Commodity polymers
Engineering polymers
High-performance polymers

Commodity polymers

Commodity polymers such as polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) are at the base of the
pyramid. They are readily available in large quantities and have a reasonable performance
for the applications in which they are used. PE, for example, is commonly used to make high-
volume items such as plastic bags and packaging materials, applications where high
temperature or extreme strength is not a critical factor.

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), meanwhile, is for example widely used in the construction industry
and comes in two forms, rigid and flexible, with the rigid version used in window frames,
guttering and piping and the flexible version commonly used for the insulation of electrical
cabling. The raw materials for commodity polymers are usually obtained from oil and
petrochemical derivatives, and typically they are inexpensive to produce. The main raw
material for PVC however is salt.

Engineering polymers

In contrast, engineering plastics are a distinct step up from commodity polymers and offer a
superior range of properties, particularly in mechanical and thermal performance – but with
superior performance comes a higher price. For example, the polyamide family (Nylons) has
a wide range of applications, from textiles for clothing to food and beverage containers, and
in engineering applications like domestic appliances and automotive components.

High-performance polymers

High-performance polymers are located at the top of the polymer pyramid and represent
about 700,000 tonnes or only 0.2% of all man-made polymers. They are typically much more
difficult to produce and based on more complex monomers and are generally more
expensive as a result. However, as the difficulty of producing the polymer increases, so does
the performance of the resultant polymer.

PolyEtherEtherKetone (PEEK) belongs to these high-performance polymers and is a member

of the PAEK (Poly Aryl Ether Ketones) family of polymers, a family with over 300 members
but only a handful of which have been commercialised. The linear aromatic PEEK polymer
consists of repeating ether, ether and ketone linkages separated by aryl groups. It is this
many (or Poly) EtherEtherKetone arrangement which gives the polymer its name PEEK and
its unique performance.

Why high performance can matter

Polyetheretherketones such as VICTREX™ PEEK are ideally suited to extreme and

demanding environments. While alternative materials can meet specific needs, PEEK can
support multiple requirements. For example the light weight, high strength PEEK polymer
provides high resistance to wear, temperature, fatigue and aggressive fluids/chemicals and
can contribute to

enhanced fuel efficiency

improved safety
extended part life

greater comfort (smooth operation, less noise)

more design freedom and/or

production cost efficiencies.

To mention just a few examples: Already over 200 million automobile drivers are relying on
innovative Victrex PEEK-based ABS/ESC brake components today; more than 15,000
aircraft have Victrex solutions on board such as brackets, clamps or thermal acoustic
insulation; and more than one billion mobile devices use our solutions, for example in high-
performance speakers. PEEK is even used inside the human body: in the quest for improved
patient care PEEK as a biomaterial has little more than 15 years of history, yet already around
nine million implanted devices worldwide use PEEK-OPTIMA™ polymers from Invibio, a
Victrex plc company – an impressive statistic. 
Advanced PEEK materials, production processes and integrated offerings are opening the
door to increased efficiency and new potential uses – uses for which the ancient Greeks who
pioneered the sciences would have been justifiably proud.

Araldite® is a registered trademark of Huntsman Advanced Materials

About the author

John Grasmeder, Chief scientist at Victrex

Dr John Grasmeder has over 25 years’ experience in the polymer industry, in R&D,
commercial and business leadership positions at ICI, BASF, Hoechst and Shell joint ventures in
both the UK and Germany.  He has been with Victrex 11 years, and was Technical Director
from 2010.  He became Chief Scientist in 2016.  

LinkedIn

Contact author Contact us

Read next

INDUSTRY UPDATES
Get our latest industry insight, straight to your inbox

Email address

Industry

Sign up for marketing updates. You'll receive targeted messages, such as newsletters,
tradeshow, webinar and event announcements from the Victrex Group. You can
unsubscribe at any time. Visit our Privacy Policy to learn more.

Yes, I’d like to sign-up for marketing updates

RECEIVE UPDATES
Got a question?
Get in touch directly with our team!

Submit a question

Receive news updates

Sign up for our quarterly e-newsletters

Sign up

Change language Share this page

English

Terms & Conditions Terms of use Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Modern Slavery Act Statement

Testimonials victrexplc.com invibio.com

© 2018 Copyright Victrex plc. All rights reserved