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General Concepts / September 23, 2021

Properties of plastic

        The properties of plastics are defined chiefly by the organic chemistry of the polymer such as hardness, density, and resistance to heat, organic solvents, oxidation, and ionizing radiation. In particular, most plastics will melt upon heating to a few hundred degrees celsius. While plastics can be made electrically conductive, with the conductivity of up […]


        The properties of plastics are defined chiefly by the organic chemistry of the polymer such as hardness, density, and resistance to heat, organic solvents, oxidation, and ionizing radiation. In particular, most plastics will melt upon heating to a few hundred degrees celsius. While plastics can be made electrically conductive, with the conductivity of up to 80 kS/cm in stretch-oriented polyacetylene, they are still no match for most metals like copper which have conductivities of several hundreds kS/cm.

UL Standards

        Many properties of plastics are determined by tests as specified by Underwriters Laboratories, such as:
            1. Flammability – UL94
            2. High voltage arc tracking rate – UL746A
            3. Comparative Tracking Index

ISO

        Many properties of plastics are determined by standards as specified by ISO, such as:
            •  ISO 306 – Thermoplastics