4. Applications
Given their properties, polyimides have a wide range of applications: historically in the aeronautics and automotive industries, but also in electronics, electricity, tableware and the design of precision mechanical parts.
Some are also used as matrices for composites, competing with epoxy resins. An exhaustive inventory of these applications would be tedious, so only a few significant examples are given here.
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Aeronautics and aerospace
Commercial applications of polyimides in aeronautics date back to the 1960s, as mechanical parts or thermal and electrical insulators.
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Automotive
PI's resistance to wear under operating conditions without lubrication or in the presence of hot oils has led to its use in sealing...
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Applications
Developments
Economic data
Because of their high price (around thirty times that of polyamides), the market for condensation polyimides is still limited to high-performance applications, and tonnages consumed remain low, even though this market is growing steadily.
The largest market for polyimides is in the United States, with the fastest-growing sectors being film and fibers.
In Europe, the key sectors...
Bibliography
- - On pourra trouver, sur les sites internet des différents producteurs, dont les adresses sont données ci-dessous, des notices documentaires assez détaillées, d'où ont été extraites la plupart des données chiffrées du dossier ainsi que certaines figures.
References
Main producers
(non-exhaustive list)
Du Pont de Nemours : http://www.dupont.com/
Kapton : films
Vespel: parts and semi-finished products
Pyralin: photosensitive polymers
PIQ: precursor solutions
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