LG Chem developed LUCON® TX5007 to facilitate the electrostatic application of powder coating for the automotive industry.
The Korean company LG Chem has recently announced that it has started to supply its engineering plastics LUCON TX5007® to the automotive manufacturer Mitsubishi Motors in order to increase the performances of the powder coating parts used as the front fenders of RVR, Delica D:5 and Outlander models.
The front fender is located on the side of the vehicles, not only acting as one of the key factors in the exterior design
but also protecting the wheels from road debris. So, it needs to possess a high level of mechanical robustness and also an excellent exterior quality to keep a high integrity design with the rest of the car body. Employing plastics instead of steel or aluminium to manufacture this part contributes to reduce the weight of the vehicle by around 4 kg, improving fuel efficiency.
LUCON TX5007 is a range of engineering plastics composed by a compound material that combines modified polyphenylene ether (mPPE) and polyamide (PA66) alloy with carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Besides providing heat resistance, the solution developed by LG Chem has an excellent electrical conductivity and shows strong mechanical properties. So, it suitable for the automotive coating process at 200° C or higher. In addition, it also offers an excellent dimensional stability thanks to its low coefficient of linear thermal expansion (CLTE).
In addition to LUCON TX5007, LG Chem has a broad portfolio of products that can be used for large-scale automotive exterior powder-coated parts which can be customised in order to meet the different requirements for fenders, bumper panels, hoods, tailgates, fuel doors and side mirrors.