Arkema has announced doubling the capacity of its Kepstan PEKK (polyetherketoneketone) product line in France and confirmed that its “world-scale” PEKK plant in Mobile, Ala., will come on stream in the second half of 2018.
In a Feb. 23 statement, the materials company said the French capacity expansion was completed “recently.”
“These investments will serve the growing needs of the carbon fibre reinforced composites and additive manufacturing (3-D printing) markets, confirming Arkema's continued commitment to develop lightweight materials, one of their six innovation platforms,” the company said.
PEKK is the latest addition to the PAEK (polyaryletherketone) family which according to Arkema “significantly increases” the number of applications suitable for the very high performance polymers by offering a wider range of processing techniques and thermomechanical properties.
Kepstan PEKK will be on display at the upcoming JEC World tradeshow in Paris, on March 14-16.