High Performance Polymers for Electric Vehicles
Busbar Insulation
Arkema offers different grades designed for busbar insulation. In safety orange, Rilsan® PA11 pellets for cross-head extrusion and injection molding/overmolding and Rilsan® PA11 powders for metal coating application. For high temperature applications, Arkema provides also Kepstan® PEKK when a busbar must resist intense thermal runaway.
Protective Powder Coatings
In addition to insulating busbars, our bio-based Rilsan® PA11 powder coatings can be used to insulate other components in the electric vehicle battery pack as well, including: heat exchangers, battery racks, switchgears, connectors, field coils, toroidal inductors, rotors and stators, other electrical components, chiller plates, and cooling channels. These powder coatings offer improved flexibility, processing, dielectric strength, and durability when compared to traditional insulating coatings like epoxies. They are also certified UL 94 V0. Safety orange pigmented Rilsan® PA11 powder coatings grades are available that can achieve coating thicknesses ranging from 75-500 microns (3-20 mils). Due to the high breakdown strength of the material, lower thicknesses can be used which help with packing and thermal conductivity. Powder coating grades of our high temperature resistant Kepstan® PEKK material are also available.
Watch our previous webinars
Extreme Dielectric Protection
Some electrical insulation applications have extreme requirements that standard insulation materials cannot endure. This can include exposure to extremely high temperatures in instances of thermal runaway, high voltage isolation requirements at low thicknesses, strong chemical resistance, and extreme durability. Arkema's Kepstan® PEKK is capable of handling these intense requirements, while also providing excellent adhesion to conductive metal components. This makes Kepstan® PEKK a great solution for emotor magnet wires and more.
Cooling Management
Rilsan® polyamide 11 and Rilsamid® polyamide 12 are widely used for battery cooling lines, which allows good thermal control to ensure optimal performance and durability of the battery. Tubes made of Rilsan® PA11 and Rilsamid® PA12 allow the transfer of cooling liquid to and from the radiator and battery pack. Both materials combine very good mechanical strength, durability and easy assembly to the battery.
Looking for technical data?
Search for technical data sheets and even compare grades side-by-side