Corrosion Resistant Plastics

More About Chemical Resistant Plastics

To learn more about chemical resistant plastics we can take a look at the particular engineering plastic materials that make up the family of chemical resistant materials. These are as follows: 

• Polyolefin (polyethylene, polypropylene, HDPE, LDPE, UHMW, PP) - Polyolefins are light weight and highly chemical resistant. However, this also makes them unsuitable for applications where bonding is necessary. Due to their resistance means achieving a chemical bond is very likely. Bonds are typically mechanical for polyolefins. They can however, be heat welded.

• Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC, and CPVC) – Polyvinyl chloride is the oldest of the corrosion resistant plastics. Both PVC and CPVC materials are approximately 35% - 40% heavier and more rigid than polyolefins. By adding a chlorine molecule, CPVC achieves a higher temperature resistance than PVC. Otherwise the two are essentially the same. Unlike polyolefin plastics both PVC and CPVC can be chemically bonded or heat welded and they are available in sheet, rod, tube and profiles.

• Fluoroplastics or fluoropolymers (PTFE, FEP, PFA, PVDF, PCTFE, ECTFE, ETFE and others) – Fluoroplastics or fluoropolymers are resistant to elevated temperatures, which makes them the proper choice for very hot environments. However, these heat resistant and chemical resistant plastics also tend to be softer than Polyolefin or Polyvinyl Chloride making machining to close tolerances difficult.