France-based chemical company Arkema and Austria-based Lenzing Plastics GmbH, a supplier of fluoropolymer filaments and fibers, have teamed to develop Kynar® 705 — a high-flow polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) homopolymer-grade resin designed to be spun into mono and multifilament fibers using standard commercial spinning equipment to produce ultra-resistant water- and chemical-filtration as well as architectural textiles.

Kynar® 705 properties include high fluidity, tenacity and whiteness; low overall gel content; and chemical, abrasion, ultraviolet and thermal resistance. Tests have indicated that the fibers offer 25-percent-greater tenacity than comparable fluoropolymer fibers, according to Arkema and Lenzing Plastics.

Potential applications include woven and spunbond water, chemical, air and gas filtration media; fabric backing for PVDF lines; roof textiles; and battery separators. The fiber's low viscosity also enables it to be used in the production of color masterbatches, in the injection molding of ultra-thin parts and as a rhealogical modifier of fluoropolymers. The low friction and low surface tension of the Kynar 705 woven filter cloth facilitates its cleaning, and helps extend its lifetime by a factor of up to 10 compared with conventional non-fluoro filter media, the companies report.

Arkema and Lenzing are working to find new applications for PVDF multifilament fibers made from Kynar 705.

August 21, 2012