Coatings remove need for mould release agents

Poeton Industries has developed a number of specialised coatings in its Apticote range to eliminate the need for release agents in moulding applications.

Poeton Industries has developed a number of specialised coatings in its Apticote range to eliminate the need for release agents in moulding applications.

A spokesman for the company says replacing conventional spray release agents with a specialised coating provides considerable cost and operational benefits.

Carry-over of release agent onto the product is eliminated, the high cost of release agents and disposal of aerosols is greatly reduced, and the working life of the mould can be extended significantly by re-coating.

Coatings already in use extensively for moulding applications include Apticote 200, 350, 370 and 460.

Apticote 200, an inert low-friction copolymer coating, combines excellent wear properties with permanent dry lubricity to extend mould life and eliminate the need for expensive chemical mould release agents.

Throughput and machine running speeds are both increased and downtime is greatly reduced as tools need changing less frequently and many cleaning operations are eradicated.

Apticote 200 can operate at extremes of temperature from -200 to +285C and is chemical resistant and FDA compliant.

Apticote 350 and 370 are advanced hard anodic composites that combine excellent low-friction and release properties.

The process offers a unique approach to precision hard anodising, providing a completely uniform surface layer of predictable thickness.

As surface growth is 50% of the total coating thickness, final dimensions can also be accurately predicted to eliminate the need for costly mould finishing operations.

Apticote 460 is an electroless nickel composite that offers the opportunity to substantially reduce material costs by coating low cost materials to meet the needs of high performance moulding applications.

For example, moulds manufactured from low carbon steel and coated with Apticote 460 can be used to replace more expensive alloy moulds with no loss of performance.

And costs are further reduced because moulds can be machined from more workable and readily available metals.

Apticote 460M is has been developed for rubber and polymer moulding applications requiring permanent mould release properties.

Apticote 460A is designed to provide excellent mould release where maximum chemical and abrasion resistance is also required.

Apticote 460 is USDA and FDA compliant making it ideal for food and drink, cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications.

It has achieved four times the wear resistance of electroless nickel in Tabor Abrasor tests, outperforms hard chrome in dry running applications and will operate at temperatures from -115 to +260C.

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