Hello all,
This is my first post here, I’m certain it wont be my last, this site is great!
I work for a small prototype engineering company, and have designed a small steam sterilizer for sanitizing an 8 oz plastic bottle for a client. The whole product is meant to be injection molded, and is on the order of 4" x 4" x 8" consisting of an opaque bottom and a translucent cover.
Simply speaking, the bottom opaque section will be in direct contact with the boiling water, and the translucent top will contain the steam around the bottle. A sterilization cycle takes approximately 5 minutes.
I am faced with the challenge of specifying a material to be used, and I am hoping someone has some good resources and/or feedback.
-PC has been ruled out due to BPA concerns
-Nylon raises water absorption issues
-And I have read that PBT and PET have issues when exposed to water over 140 degrees F
The best I have found so far is this: (Radel R5800 PPSU)
http://www.solvayplastics.com/sites/solvayplastics/EN/specialty_polymers/SulfonePolymers/Pages/Radel.aspx
It seems to have all the necessary properties, although I feel like it may be pricey (I haven’t found a price anywhere yet). It seems to be designed and tested with steam sterilization in mind, and it comes in translucent and opaque colors.
This is my first injection molding project, so I want to be sure to cover all my bases before I send out any drawings. Any advice or links to good material sources would be much appreciated. So far I have mainly used Ides Prospector free online to find material information.
Thanks!
-Justin