New product: PLEXIGLAS® Optical HT offers enhanced heat deflection temperature and excellent optical properties

With the new PLEXIGLAS^® Optical HT, the Molding Compounds Business Unit of Röhm introduces a heat-resistant special molding compound providing the best possible optical quality, even at increased continuous service temperatures. With its balanced properties, it is the latest molding compound of Röhm’s portfolio of branded polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). PLEXIGLAS^® Optical HT provides optical efficiency at the high standard of PLEXIGLAS^® 8N, in combination with an increased heat deflection temperature similar to the PLEXIGLAS^® Heatresist product family. In addition, the new special molding compound offers excellent weather resistance and durability which PLEXIGLAS^® is known for. This new product provides innovative designers with advanced creative possibilities for automotive headlamps or luminaire components, which create a distinctive and vibrant appearance.

Light transmittance, temperature and UV resistance
The materials used in optical components for automotive headlamps, high-power floodlights or road lighting, are usually subject to high standards. However, new trends in product design increase the thermal requirements on the materials to be used even further. For example, the use of high-performance LEDs with simultaneously smaller component depths.

Too often, increased heat deflection temperature is synonomous with loss of optical quality, even if such a loss is minimal. Not with PLEXIGLAS^® Optical HT; it combines increased heat deflection temperature with excellent optical properties in one product.

Good processability and continuous service life
PLEXIGLAS^® Optical HT is suitable for processing with all standard thermoplastic methods. The excellent flow properties are comparable to those of known basic molding compounds and allow the production of complex optical components.

“PLEXIGLAS^® Optical HT was designed specifically for applications where high-performance LEDs are used,” emphasizes Dr. Rüdiger Carloff, Project Manager at Innovation Management Methacrylates at Röhm, who has managed the product development. “It can resist temperatures up to 105°C. This is confirmed by the RTI rating according to the UL 746B standard. It is also perfectly suitable for lighting guides with extended light paths.”

“We see plenty of potential uses for PLEXIGLAS^® Optical HT in the automotive industry in particular,” says Dr. Sivakumara Krishnamoorthy, Senior Product Manager Automotive in the Molding Compounds Business Unit at Röhm. “We believe that PLEXIGLAS^® Optical HT provides an excellent material solution for long light guides and other demanding optical components of headlamps, which are all subject to high thermal stress.”

Dr. René Kogler, Head of Product Management for Lighting, Extrusion, Optics at Röhm adds, “We responded to the market’s demand for higher heat deflection temperature of optics to provide greater design flexibility for luminaires with PLEXIGLAS^® Optical HT. 15°C increase in continuous service temperature compared to the current standard. This opens new doors in luminaire design without loss of clarity and transmittance. Customers can continue to rely on the established PLEXIGLAS^® properties such as high UV and weather resistance as well as recyclability.”