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Lexan (LEXAN) is a registered trademark for SABIC Innovative Plastics'
SABIC

SABIC is a diversified manufacturing company, active in chemicals and intermediates, industrial polymers, fertilizers and metals. It is the largest public company in Saudi Arabia as listed in Tadawul, but the Saudi government still owns 70% of its shares....
 (formerly General Electric
General Electric

The General Electric Company, or GE is a multinational corporation United States technology and Service s conglomerate incorporated in the State of New York....
 Plastics) brand of highly durable polycarbonate
Polycarbonate

Polycarbonates are a particular group of thermoplastic polymers. They are easily worked, injection moulding, and thermoforming; as such, these plastics are very widely used in the modern chemical industry....
 resin
Resin

Resin is a hydrocarbon secretion of many plants, particularly Pinophyta. It is valued for its chemical constituents and uses, such as varnishes and adhesives, as an important source of raw materials for organic synthesis, or for incense and perfume....
 thermoplastic
Thermoplastic

A thermoplastic is a polymer that turns to a liquid when heated and freezes to a very glassy state when cooled sufficiently. Most thermoplastics are high-molecular mass polymers whose Chain s associate through weak Van der Waals forces ; stronger dipole interactions and hydrogen bonding ; or even stacking of aromatic rings ....
 intended to replace traditional glass
Glass

Glass generally refers to a Hardness, brittle, transparency amorphous solid, such as that used for windows, many Glass Bottles, or eyewear, including, but not limited to, soda-lime glass, borosilicate glass, acrylic glass, sugar glass, Muscovite , or aluminium oxynitride....
 and Plexiglas where the need for strength and impact resistance justifies its higher cost. It is a polycarbonate polymer produced by reacting Bisphenol A
Bisphenol A

Bisphenol A, commonly abbreviated as BPA, is an organic compound with two phenol functional groups. It is a difunctional building block of several important plastics and plastic additives....
 with carbonyl chloride, also known as phosgene
Phosgene

Phosgene is the chemical compound with the chemical formula COCl2. This colorless gas gained infamy as a chemical weapon during World War I, but it is also a valued industrial reagent and building block in organic synthesis....
. Lexan is the brand name for polycarbonate sheet in thicknesses from 0.75 mm (0.03 in) to 12 mm (0.48 in) and resin in a wide range of grades.






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Lexan (LEXAN) is a registered trademark for SABIC Innovative Plastics'
SABIC

SABIC is a diversified manufacturing company, active in chemicals and intermediates, industrial polymers, fertilizers and metals. It is the largest public company in Saudi Arabia as listed in Tadawul, but the Saudi government still owns 70% of its shares....
 (formerly General Electric
General Electric

The General Electric Company, or GE is a multinational corporation United States technology and Service s conglomerate incorporated in the State of New York....
 Plastics) brand of highly durable polycarbonate
Polycarbonate

Polycarbonates are a particular group of thermoplastic polymers. They are easily worked, injection moulding, and thermoforming; as such, these plastics are very widely used in the modern chemical industry....
 resin
Resin

Resin is a hydrocarbon secretion of many plants, particularly Pinophyta. It is valued for its chemical constituents and uses, such as varnishes and adhesives, as an important source of raw materials for organic synthesis, or for incense and perfume....
 thermoplastic
Thermoplastic

A thermoplastic is a polymer that turns to a liquid when heated and freezes to a very glassy state when cooled sufficiently. Most thermoplastics are high-molecular mass polymers whose Chain s associate through weak Van der Waals forces ; stronger dipole interactions and hydrogen bonding ; or even stacking of aromatic rings ....
 intended to replace traditional glass
Glass

Glass generally refers to a Hardness, brittle, transparency amorphous solid, such as that used for windows, many Glass Bottles, or eyewear, including, but not limited to, soda-lime glass, borosilicate glass, acrylic glass, sugar glass, Muscovite , or aluminium oxynitride....
 and Plexiglas where the need for strength and impact resistance justifies its higher cost. It is a polycarbonate polymer produced by reacting Bisphenol A
Bisphenol A

Bisphenol A, commonly abbreviated as BPA, is an organic compound with two phenol functional groups. It is a difunctional building block of several important plastics and plastic additives....
 with carbonyl chloride, also known as phosgene
Phosgene

Phosgene is the chemical compound with the chemical formula COCl2. This colorless gas gained infamy as a chemical weapon during World War I, but it is also a valued industrial reagent and building block in organic synthesis....
. Lexan is the brand name for polycarbonate sheet in thicknesses from 0.75 mm (0.03 in) to 12 mm (0.48 in) and resin in a wide range of grades. Applications are mainly in three domains — building (glazing
Glazing

Glazing is a Transparency part of a wall, usually made of glass or plastic . Glazing also describes the work done by a professional "glazier"....
 and dome
Dome

A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
s), industry (machine protection and fabricated parts) and communication and signage.

Development and patent

GE's discovery of the polycarbonate that is trade named Lexan by chemist Dr. Daniel Fox
Daniel Fox

Dr. Daniel W. Fox was a polymer chemist who is often regarded as the father of Lexan. LEXAN is the flagship product of GE Plastics and is used in everything from CDs and DVDs to car bumpers and Nalgene products....
 occurred in 1953, while working on a wire coating, just one week after Dr. Hermann Schnell of Bayer
Bayer

Bayer Aktiengesellschaft is a Germany chemical industry and pharmaceutical company founded in Barmen, Germany in 1863. Today it is headquartered in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany....
 in Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 had independently made the same discovery. Both teams were impressed by the remarkable toughness of the material.

Both companies applied for U.S. patents in 1955. Before it was clear which would win the patent, both agreed that the patent holder would grant a license for an appropriate royalty. This agreement allowed both companies to concentrate on developing the polymer and was particularly advantageous to GE, since GE would not otherwise have been able to sell a product during the life of the original patent.

Manufacturing

Lexan is now manufactured by SABIC Innovative Plastics. It is manufactured at several SABIC plants, the largest being in Mt. Vernon, Indiana; Burkville, Alabama; Cartagena, Spain
Cartagena, Spain

Cartagena is a Spanish Mediterranean city and Spanish Navy in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula in the Region of Murcia.Cartagena has been the capital of the Naval Structure of the Spanish Navy in the New Millennium since the arrival of the House of Bourbon in the eighteenth century....
; and Bergen op Zoom
Bergen op Zoom

Bergen op Zoom is a municipality and a city in the south of the Netherlands....
, The Netherlands. SABIC Innovative Plastics is headquartered in Pittsfield, MA. Jack Welch
Jack Welch

John Francis "Jack" Welch, Jr. was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of General Electric between 1981 and 2001. Welch gained a solid reputation for uncanny business acumen and unique leadership strategies at GE....
, former CEO of GE, started as a chemical engineer in this division in Pittsfield.

Properties

Lexan is similar to polymethyl methacrylate (Plexiglas/Lucite/Perspex) and is commonly described as acrylic in appearance, but is far more durable, often to the point of being described as "bulletproof
Bulletproof

Bulletproofing is process of making something capable of stopping a bullet or similar high velocity projectiles e.g. shrapnel. The term bullet resistance is often preferred because few, if any, practical materials provide complete protection against all types of bullets, or multiple hits in the same location....
", depending on the thickness of the sample and the type of weapon used.

Lexan may leach bisphenol A
Bisphenol A

Bisphenol A, commonly abbreviated as BPA, is an organic compound with two phenol functional groups. It is a difunctional building block of several important plastics and plastic additives....
, a chemical that some studies linked to cancer. These studies indicate exposure to low levels of BPA causes a range of serious health effects in laboratory animals. An expert panel of 12 scientists has found that there is "some concern that exposure to the chemical bisphenol A in utero causes neural and behavioral effects," according to the draft report prepared by The National Toxicology Program (NTP) Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction. For the general adult population, the expert panel found a "negligible concern for adverse reproductive effects following exposures."

Usage

Lexan is used in the aerospace
Aerospace

Aerospace comprises the atmosphere of Earth and surrounding outer space. Typically the term is used to refer to the industry that researches, designs, manufactures, operates, and maintains vehicles moving through Aircraft and Space exploration....
 industry for aircraft
Aircraft

An aircraft is a vehicle which is able to flight by being supported by the air, or in general, the atmosphere, of a planet. Examples include balloons, airplanes and helicopters....
 canopies, windscreens and other windows, but can be found in household items, such as bottles, compact disc
Compact Disc

A Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store Data , originally developed for storing digital audio. The CD, available on the market since October 1982, remains the standard physical medium for sale of commercial Sound recording and reproduction to the present day....
s, and DVD
DVD

DVD, also known as "Digital Versatile Disc" or "Digital Video Disc,"is a popular optical disc data storage device media format. Its main uses are video and data storage....
s. Perhaps the most visible Lexan consumer products are the Apple iBook
IBook

The iBook is a line of laptop computers that was developed and sold by Apple Inc. between 1999 and 2006. It was targeted at the consumer and education markets, with fewer features and lower prices than the PowerBook....
 and iPod
IPod

iPod is a brand of portable media players designed and marketed by Apple Inc. and launched on . The product line-up includes the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the video-capable iPod Nano, and the compact iPod Shuffle....
 — their gleaming white plastic is Lexan. It also is used by Nalgene
Nalgene

Nalgene is a distributor and manufacturer of plastic laboratory containers that has diversified into the field of containers for outdoor sports....
 for their 1-liter wide mouth water bottle, popular with hikers
Hiking

Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often on trail. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous :Category:Hiking organizations worldwide....
 and mountaineers
Mountaineering

Mountaineering is the sport, hobby or profession of walking, hiking, trekking and climbing up mountains. It is also sometimes known as alpinism, particularly in Europe....
. Lexan is also used by other water bottle manufacturers.

Lexan is also used in:
  • The visors for the helmets on the Apollo space program
  • Automotive headlight covers to prevent small rocks and stones from breaking headlights bulbs
  • Racing cars to replace heavier (and breakable) glass windshield
    Windshield

    The windshield or windscreen of an aircraft, automobile, bus, motorcycle, or tram is the front window. Modern windshields are generally made of Laminated glass, a type of treated glass, which consists of two curved sheets of glass with a plastic layer laminated between them for safety, and are Polyurethaned into the window frame....
    s and windows
  • Greenhouse
    Greenhouse

    A greenhouse is a building where plants are cultivated.A greenhouse is a structure with a glass or plastic roof and frequently glass or plastic walls; it heats up because incoming solar radiation from the sun warms plants, soil, and other things inside the building....
    s for covering
  • The Flexdex skateboard
    Skateboard

    A skateboard is a four wheeled piece of wood used for the activity of skateboarding. The modern skateboard originated in California in the late 1950's....
    s "Clear" models
  • Radio-controlled car
    Radio-controlled car

    A radio-controlled car is a powered model car driven from a distance via a radio control system. Inputs from joysticks on a transmitter are sent to the car's onboard receiver ....
     bodies
  • Motorcycle goggles and Visors
  • Pseudo-brass knuckles
    Brass knuckles

    Brass knuckles, also sometimes called knuckles, knucks, brass knucks, or knuckle dusters, are weapons used in Hand to hand combat....
  • Air hockey pucks
  • Hockey rink glass
  • Nike Bauer
    Nike Bauer

    Bauer Hockey is one of the leading manufacturers of Ice hockey Ice hockey equipment, fitness and recreational skates. The hockey equipment that Bauer produces include: helmets, gloves, sticks, skates, shinguards, pants, shoulder pads, elbow pads, as well as goalie equipment....
     Supreme One90 and Supreme One70 ice hockey skates (specifically, the TUUK Lightspeed 2 blade holders)
  • Some guitar pick
    Guitar pick

    A guitar pick is a type of plectrum designed for use on a guitar. Over time people have made picks of various materials, including plastic, rubber, felt, Tortoiseshell material, wood, metal, and rock ....
    s
  • An alternative for brass mouthpieces in brass musical instruments.
  • All New York City Subway
    New York City Subway

    The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and also known as MTA New York City Transit....
     cars, from R110A
    R110A (New York City Subway car)

    R-110A was a prototype class of New York City Subway cars delivered in 1992. The R110A was designed to test out new technology features that would be incorporated into R142 fleet....
     to newer cars such as R160B
    R160B (New York City Subway car)

    The R160B is a heavy-rail subway car model for New York City Transit Authority built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries.Kawasaki, in cooperation with Alstom Transportation Inc., has been awarded a formal order from MTA New York City Transit to supply R160 stainless steel rolling stock for the city?s subway system....
     feature Lexan as a defense against vandalism.
  • The jars for Blendtec blenders
  • Riot shield
    Riot shield

    Riot shields are lightweight protection devices deployed by police and some military organizations. Most are a clear polycarbonate, though some are constructed of light metals with a view hole....
    s and the visors of Riot helmets
  • The visor in some fencing masks, and in many industrial safety shields and masks
  • Cosmic ray
    Cosmic ray

    Cosmic rays are energetic particles originating from space that impinge on Earth's atmosphere. Almost 90% of all the incoming cosmic ray particles are protons, about 9% are helium nuclei and about 1% are electrons ....
     detectors as stacks of 1/4 mil sheets
  • Doors for Pods in WWE Elimination Chamber
    Elimination Chamber

    The Elimination Chamber is a Professional wrestling match types in professional wrestling ....
  • A surfacing for features in terrain parks at ski and snowboard resorts
  • Disciplinary paddles and canes
  • Headstock coverings on certain acoustic guitars (Taylor Baby as an example)
  • The electronics module/housing of the Synchronar digital watch is made from lexan


Lexan in popular culture

  • Lexan is often used in the TV show MythBusters
    MythBusters

    MythBusters is a popular science television program produced by Australian firm Beyond Television Productions originally for the Discovery Channel in the United States and Canada....
     to protect the show's hosts and crew from any explosions.
  • Many of the clear containers used in the show Good Eats
    Good Eats

    Good Eats is a television cooking show created and hosted by Alton Brown that airs in North America on Food Network. Likened to television science educators Mr....
     are Lexan containers.


External links