Rhodia Polyamide becomes first European producer of Polyphenylene Sulfide (PPS) staple fibres

Rhodia Polyamide announces the launch of new Polyphenylene Sulfide (PPS) staple fibres based on Ticona’s Fortron® PPS polymer. This partnership allows Rhodia Polyamide to become the first European producer to offer PPS staple fibres.

Specially designed for applications needing high temperature stability, broad chemical resistance, stiffness, strength and creep resistance at elevated temperature, these new PPS staple fibres are initially available between Dtex 2.2 and Dtex 7, however Rhodia is already developing the product range to include finer and coarser counts.

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Polyphenylene Sulfide (PPS) is a high-temperature resin that offers an excellent combination of thermal, mechanical and chemical resistance. Fortron® PPS is a high-temperature linear PPS that offers excellent dimensional stability, inherent flame resistance, outstanding chemical and solvent resistance. PPS is insoluble in all known solvents below 200°C (540° F). It also shows tremendous stability in both typical and alternative automotive fuels. Standard injection mouldable grades with glass fibres and/or mineral reinforcements are available, but many speciality grades are available for improved lubricity, low warpage, faster cycling and other areas of enhanced performance.

Certain grades of Fortron® PPS comply with ISO 10993 and USP Class VI, and Drug (DMF 14844) and Device (MAF-1097) Master Files have been created for them. These grades also meet European Directive 2002/72/EC for food contact applications and BfR (German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, formerly BgVV, the German Federal Institute for Consumer Health Protection and Veterinary Medicine) standards.

Staple fibres are manufactured by melt spinning process in Rhodia’s Neumünster plant, Germany, where a strict quality management system is applied according to the standards of ISO 9001:2000. Processes and products are continuously supervised by several on-line devices. In addition quality is controlled by laboratory chemical and textile testing. The Neumünster plant also produces high-grade polyamide 6, 6.6, and 6.10 staple fibres for a variety of highly demanding technical applications.

Filter media are typical applications for PPS staple fibres as they require a combination of high temperature, chemical and hydrolysis resistance. PPS staple fibres are also utilised in applications where flame-retardancy is essential and are often used for hot gas filtration in diverse sectors such as power generation, stone and cement, chemical and allied industries.

Rhodia Polyamide is already market leader for polyamide 6, 6.6, and 6.10 staple fibres for nonwovens and technical applications such as interlinings, paper machine clothing, abrasives, battery separators etc. The addition of PPS to its extensive product portfolio allows Rhodia to apply technical competencies for new highly demanding industrial sectors and the company will initially focus on European markets where it is now the first producer of PPS staple fibres.

® Fortron is a registered trademark of Ticona

Rhodia Polyamide, St. Fons, France

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