Wide spec or off-spec resins are byproducts of virgin plastic polymerization that is produced out of specification. They do not fit the specifications of any of the prime plastic products and hence are bought by wide spec resin suppliers, resin compounders, and more. These resins may be damaged due to heat exposure or any other reason, and hence they have altered physical and chemical properties. Despite these damages, wide spec resins can still be used in various ways. Plastic resin suppliers often sell wide spec resins to OEMs of plastic product manufacturers at a lesser price than the actual rate of prime virgin plastic. This post discusses the wide spec resin types, properties, applications, and more.
What Are Wide Spec Resins?
Also called as off grade resins, wide spec resins have wider specifications from the mentioned or required range. Hence, these may be categorized as good wide spec and bad wide spec depending on the changed properties such as color, mechanical strength, density, and more. Visually, at time, the color may appear different from the actual or required, such as pale, caramelized, and so on. Since these resins are a byproduct of virgin resins, they require no extra cost or time for production and processing.
Wide Spec Resins Types, Properties, and Applications
Off-grade resins cannot be clearly defined; however, their properties may differ slightly from the standard ones, depending on their type, such as ABS, acrylic, polycarbonate, polypropylene, polyurethane, and so on. Here are some standard properties of these plastics and possible variations that make them wide spec.
- ABS
- Standard properties: Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene or ABS is an amorphous polymer made of three monomers – acrylonitrile, butadiene, and styrene. This thermoplastic has a high impact-resistance and hence ensures durability and structural stability. It can be welded and formed easily on most machines including CNC and 3D printing. It has great electrical insulation properties and can sustain wide temperature ranges.
- Wide Spec: Some ABS resins may be categorized as wide spec due to any changes in color, density, structural changes which may impact mechanical strength and durability, or as a result of blending with other thermoplastics in wrong proportions.
- Applications: ABS resins are used in a range of segments from computer peripherals, vehicle interiors, and device enclosures to Lego toys and sockets.
- Acrylic
- Standard properties: Acrylic offers excellent transparency and optical properties, and hence can be used as a lightweight substitute to glass in some applications. It has a higher impact resistance than ordinary glass, and is cost effective at the same time. It can be precision machined and has a decent tensile strength. This material can sustain wide temperature ranges from -40 to 80 degrees Celsius. Acrylic has a relative density of 1.19 g/cm3.
- Wide Spec: Wide spec acrylic resins may have some amount of opacity or altered tensile strength depending on how they are formed. Its density may also vary.
- Applications: It is used to make partitions, manifolds, lenses, furniture, LCD displays screens, and more. Wide spec acrylic if opaque may not be suitable for lenses and other applications that require transparency.
- Polycarbonate
- Standard properties: PC is made through the polymerization of bisphenol A and phosgene. Polycarbonate finds a wide use across industries in several types of devices because of its mechanical strength and impact resistance. It is lightweight yet durable and transparent and hence is used as an alternative to glass. Also, it can be designed to block UV rays. It can be easily machined, formed, melted, and molded to get the required shape. PC has good electrical properties and offers structural and dimensional stability.
- Wide Spec: Wide spec PC may not be polymerized with the exact standard formulation of bisphenol A and phosgene. This may lead to variation in properties in terms of mechanical strength, density, transparency, and so on.
- Applications: Wide spec PC may be used in a number of kitchen jars, cups, sippers, containers, and so on.
- Polypropylene
- Standard properties: A reasonably hard polyolefin, polypropylene has low density and offers good heat resistance. It is formed by the polymerization of propene monomer. PP is extremely versatile and can be formulated to be either hard or soft, opaque or transparent, and so on. It is extremely lightweight and has a low density of around 0.8 to 0.9, depending on the type.
- Wide Spec: Any difference in the chain structures during polymerization may form wide spec PP. This may vary in terms of heat resistance and hardness compared to standard PP.
- Applications: PP finds application in consumer goods, films, packaging, and so on across industries.
- Polyurethane
- Standard properties: Polyurethane can be melted and molded, and has rubber-like properties. Hence, it is durable and flexible at the same time. PU has a high elongation break point and good load bearing capacity, which forms TPU or thermoplastic polyurethane. PU can withstand low temperatures and abrasion. It shows wide variation in the molecular structure.
- Wide Spec: The variation in molecular structure may at times be off-grade, and hence vary from that of standard ones.
- Applications: PU finds wide usage in seals, gaskets, tubing, wheels, rollers, wires & cables, sporting goods, and so on.
How to Select the Right Wide Spec Resin?
Choosing the right resin largely depends on your application requirements. Here are some pointers which may help you make the right decision.
- Analyze your project requirements as well as the operating environment and weigh them against the properties of each of these polymers available.
- You can opt for wide spec resins if they fit the requirement or get them customized. They are more cost effective than the standard ones.
- Check the physical and chemical properties of the material such as density, temperature ranges, melting point, biodegradability, UV and abrasion resistance, hardness, mechanical strength, and so on.
- Ensure the material is safe to use and has no toxic emissions.
- Wide spec may have changed colors. Check if the changed colors are permissible for your application.
- Also consider the type of texture or surface finish you require, and see if the material meets those standards.
- If you require these plastics for applications such as food, healthcare, and so on, check for FDA, RoHS, REACH and NSF certifications.
If you are an OEM making plastic parts and products in large volumes, you may require wide spec resins of specific types. Ensure you source premium quality wide spec resins with the best physical and chemical properties for your application. Also, you must source them from reliable wide spec resin suppliers that can specifically cater to your requirements. Mid Continent Plastics is one of the leading engineering plastics suppliers dealing in wide spec plastic resin distribution, regardless of the volume you require. The company has a market presence for more than thirty years.
