A partial plating ring from Link Upon Advanced Material Corp., Taipei, Taiwan, is made of Solvay Advanced Polymers’ KetaSpire® polyetheretherketone (PEEK) resin for strong chemical resistance, high heat deflection temperature, low creep, and exceptional dimensional stability. The plating ring is used for gold plating of electronic LED lead frames.

The PEEK plating ring offers LED lead frame makers a more efficient and less costly process than traditional plating processes like dipping and brushing. It more precisely controls the plating thickness to save on gold consumption, while also lowering cost. KetaSpire PEEK’s low coefficient of linear thermal expansion (CLTE) helps to ensure strong dimensional stability and tight tolerances. PEEK plating rings are also more durable than those made of competing materials like polyphenylene sulfide (PPS).

KetaSpire PEEK is one of the industry’s most chemically resistant plastics and also offers excellent strength, superior fatigue resistance, and a heat deflection temperature (HDT) up to 315°C (599°F). It also provides excellent long-term thermal oxidative stability, continuous use temperature of 240°C, and outstanding chemical resistance to organics, acids, bases, and steam/hot water.

Link Upon injection molds the part and then machines the final product with several tiny holes. The plating ring has an outer diameter of 256 mm and inner diameter of 220 mm with varying heights for different lead frame designs.

About Link Upon Advanced Material Corp.
Link Upon Advanced Material Corp., based in Taipei, Taiwan, is a leading supplier of high-performance engineering thermoplastic products. The company has a broad range of expertise including injection molding, extrusion, assembly, product design, and mold design. The company serves a broad range of industries including electronics, optoelectronics, semiconductor, automotive, and textiles.

Link Upon sets up supply chain systems throughout mainland China and provides technical service and support. The company focuses on applications that require high temperature resistance, wear resistance, radiation resistance, corrosion resistance, flame resistance, self-lubrication, anti-static, and insulating (dielectric) properties. For more information, visit www.linkupon.com.

About Solvay Advanced Polymers
Solvay Advanced Polymers, LLC produces more plastics with more performance than any other company in the world. This gives design engineers worldwide more ways to solve top design challenges in automotive, medical, electronics, aerospace and other demanding industries. Learn more at www.solvayadvancedpolymers.com.

SOLVAY is an international industrial Group active in Chemistry. It offers a broad range of products and solutions that contribute to improving quality of life. The Group is headquartered in Brussels and employs about 19,000 people in 50 countries. In 2009, its consolidated sales amounted to EUR 8.5 billion. Solvay is listed on the NYSE Euronext stock exchange in Brussels (NYSE Euronext: SOLB.BE - Bloomberg: SOLB.BB - Reuters: SOLBt.BR). Details are available at www.solvay.com.

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Joseph Grande
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