RTP Company Develops Plastic Strong Enough to Withstand Chemical Disinfectants

RTP Company has developed a proprietary alloy technology designed to maintain strength, functionality, and integrity, even with repeated exposure to hospital cleaners used to disinfect medical devices.

Known as the RTP 2000 HC series, these thermoplastic compounds can help solve cracking issues in existing devices and open a new realm of possibilities for the design of hospital equipment and plastic housings that require frequent disinfection, such as mobile ultrasound and x-ray machines, enteral feeding devices, drug infusion pumps, blood filtration equipment, and more, RTP executives said.

The RTP 2000 HC series provides a solution to a widespread problem: the damage and premature, catastrophic failure of plastic devices, equipment, and housings caused by harsh cleaners and disinfectants used in medical settings. Medical facilities are acutely aware of the risks associated with hospital acquired infections, with as many as 2 million new cases and $11 billion in additional costs annually in the United States alone. To reduce these risks, medical facilities have increased the amount of harsh chemicals for sanitization purposes and the frequency of their use, only to discover that these cleaners cause cracks and degradation in plastic equipment and housings –– and replacing them is costly.

In developing the RTP 2000 HC series, engineers from RTP Company tested numerous polymers for damage resistance to six popular chemical classes of hospital cleaners and disinfectants. Molded compounds were subjected to stressors in order to replicate field failures and relative resistance. The best performer was optimized for physical properties, chemical damage resistance, colorability and flammability, company officials said.

The RTP 2000 HC series is available globally in flame retardant or non-flame retardant versions, and the compounds are colorable. It is also available in sheet format in thicknesses ranging from 0.02 inches to 0.25 inches (0.508 millimeters to 0.635 millimeters) through Engineered Sheet Products (ESP), a division of RTP Company.

OEMs and injection molding companies that create parts, housings, and equipment for medical facilities can use the RTP 2000 HC series thermoplastic compounds as a direct replacement for other amorphous resins such as PC/ABS and PC/PBT, the company noted in a news release. The RTP 2000 HC series has proven performance for superior chemical resistance under molded in stress conditions, allowing OEMs and injection molders to improve the quality and service life of their medical devices.