Friedrichshafen, Germany — Blankenhain, Germany-based Grafe Advanced Polymers GmbH has co-developed a thermally stable eOrange RAL2003, a nylon color masterbatch for e-mobility components.
The color, a pastel orange, is used to identify high-voltage, current-carrying, plastic sheath components on electric vehicles, Manfred Fischer, head of marketing, said in an interview at Fakuma 2021 in Friedrichshafen.
"For high-voltage applications, it must be an orange so the mechanic can see it's dangerous," Fischer said.
Developed together with Heilbronn, Germany-based L. Brüggemann GmbH & Co. KG, eOrange's typical applications include injection molded and extruded nylon components.
Known by the trade name PA-Tekolen, it is based on "a combination of highly thermally stable dyes with special heat stabilizers … for polymers" that were developed by Brüggemann.
"The orange is a little bit tricky because this color can, over a long period of time, turn from orange to brown," Fischer said.
The masterbatch still retains its color, without darkening, even after 1,000 hours' service at 130° C (266° F).
The color has a flexible rate of addition, which gives users better control than other commercially available compounds.
Other possible applications include high-voltage connectors, insulation for high-voltage cables, cable conduits, charging sockets or fasteners for electric vehicles, while wiring harness clips are already in production.
"We, like our long-standing partner Brüggemann, have been receiving increasing numbers of inquiries from the e-mobility sector for some time now," Lars Tonnecke, Grafe's head of sales, said in a news release. "That's why we started work on this joint project in late 2019."