Zytel is a trademark owned by

DuPont DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...

and used for a number of different high strength, abrasion and impact resistant

thermoplastic A thermoplastic, or thermosoft plastic, is any plastic polymer material that becomes pliable or moldable at a certain elevated temperature and solidifies upon cooling. Most thermoplastics have a high molecular weight. The polymer chains associate ...

polyamide A polyamide is a polymer with repeating units linked by amide bonds. Polyamides occur both naturally and artificially. Examples of naturally occurring polyamides are proteins, such as wool and silk. Artificially made polyamides can be made through ...

formulations of the family more commonly known as

nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic. Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from petro ...

. The Zytel product line is based mostly on

nylon 66 Nylon 66 (loosely written nylon 6-6, nylon 6/6, nylon 6,6, or nylon 6:6) is a type of polyamide or nylon. It, and nylon 6, are the two most common for textile and plastic industries. Nylon 66 is made of two monomers each containing 6 carbon atoms, ...

, but also includes grades based on nylon 6 as a matrix, long chain nylons such as nylon 610 (if based on at least one renewable monomer they are branded Zytel RS), and copolymers including a transparent resin called Zytel 330. Resins based on

polyphthalamide Polyphthalamide (aka. PPA, High Performance Polyamide) is a subset of thermoplastic synthetic resins in the polyamide (nylon) family defined as when 55% or more moles of the carboxylic acid portion of the repeating unit in the polymer chain is com ...

s are branded 'Zytel HTN'. The Zytel product range takes advantage of the fact that nylons are one of the most compatible polymers with modifiers and so offers grades with varying degrees of

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...

, from 13% to 60%, (to increase stiffness and strength), rubber toughened resins, flame retarded grades. Nylon resins with mineral reinforcement are branded 'Minlon'.

Properties

The properties of Zytel will vary with the specific formulation. Formulation Zytel HTN 35% Glass Reinforced Resin, consisting of 35% glass fiber by weight, has a

tensile strength Ultimate tensile strength (UTS), often shortened to tensile strength (TS), ultimate strength, or F_\text within equations, is the maximum stress that a material can withstand while being stretched or pulled before breaking. In brittle materials t ...

of around 30kpsi and a

flexural modulus In mechanics, the flexural modulus or bending modulus is an intensive property that is computed as the ratio of stress to strain in flexural deformation, or the tendency for a material to resist bending. It is determined from the slope of a stress ...

of 1500kpsi under room temperature conditions. Zytel also offers good chemical resistance to common chemicals such as

motor oil Motor oil, engine oil, or engine lubricant is any one of various substances used for the lubrication of internal combustion engines. They typically consist of base oils enhanced with various additives, particularly antiwear additives, deterg ...

transmission fluid A hydraulic fluid or hydraulic liquid is the medium by which power is transferred in hydraulic machinery. Common hydraulic fluids are based on mineral oil or water. Examples of equipment that might use hydraulic fluids are excavators and backhoes ...

, and

methanol Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an organic chemical and the simplest aliphatic alcohol, with the formula C H3 O H (a methyl group linked to a hydroxyl group, often abbreviated as MeOH). It is a ...

, and shows little

thermal expansion Thermal expansion is the tendency of matter to change its shape, area, volume, and density in response to a change in temperature, usually not including phase transitions. Temperature is a monotonic function of the average molecular kinetic ...

. Other additives or treatments may be used to increase toughness, wear resistance, and temperature tolerance.

Uses

*An early example of plastic bicycle wheels, using fiberglass reinforced Zytel, were Skyway "Tuff Wheels" for BMX bicycles. In this role any weight penalty was adequately compensated by durability and impact resistance. *Former American 200m and 400m sprinter Michael Johnson used shoes made of Zytel at the

Atlanta Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. The special gold-colored shoes were made by

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

and weighed just 85 grams. *Zytel is often used for folding

knife A knife ( : knives; from Old Norse 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evidenced ...

handles;

Spyderco Spyderco is an American cutlery company based in Golden, Colorado, producing knives and knife sharpeners. Spyderco pioneered many features that are now common in folding knives, including the pocket clip, serrations, and the opening hole. Spyder ...

Benchmade The Benchmade Knife Company is an American knife manufacturer in Oregon City, Oregon. History Benchmade originally started in California in 1979 as Bali-Song, then changed their name to Pacific Cutlery Corporation in the early 1980s. The com ...

, Grohmann, Leatherman Tool Group,

Smith & Wesson Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (S&W) is an American firearm manufacturer headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. Smith & Wesson was founded by Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson as the "Smith & Wesson Revolver Company" in 1856 ...

, Fallkniven,

Gerber Legendary Blades Gerber Legendary Blades is an American maker of knives, multitools, and other tools for outdoors and military headquartered in Portland, Oregon. Gerber is owned by the Finnish outdoors products company Fiskars. Gerber was established in 1939 by ...

, SARGE Knives, Cold Steel,

CRKT Columbia River Knife & Tool, Inc. (CRKT) is an American knife company established in 1994, and currently based in Tualatin, Oregon, United States. The company's president and sales executive is Rod Bremer and the finance executive is Peggy Bremer. ...

and

SOG Specialty Knives Sog or SOG may refer to: People * Andre Ward, US boxer nicknamed S.O.G. (Son Of God) Places * Sog, Tibet (also Sogba), Nagqu Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region of China * Sog County, county in Tibet ** Sogchu River, in Sog County, Tibet * S ...

(among many others) use fiberglass-filled versions of Zytel in many of their lightweight pocket knives *Zytel is also used for the projectile in some

less lethal Non-lethal weapons, also called nonlethal weapons, less-lethal weapons, less-than-lethal weapons, non-deadly weapons, compliance weapons, or pain-inducing weapons are weapons intended to be less likely to kill a living target than conventional ...

shotgun shell A shotgun shell, shotshell or simply shell is a type of rimmed, cylindrical (straight-walled) cartridges used specifically in shotguns, and is typically loaded with numerous small, pellet-like spherical sub- projectiles called shot, fired thro ...

s *The intake manifold of the

PT Cruiser The Chrysler PT Cruiser is a retro-styled compact car manufactured and marketed internationally by Chrysler in 5-door hatchback wagon (2001–2010) and 2-door convertible (2005–2008) body styles—over a single generation, with an intermed ...

GT is made of Zytel, as is an oil conduit in a

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...

transmission *

Rollerblade Rollerblade is a brand of inline skates owned by Nordica, part of the Tecnica Group of Giavera del Montello, Treviso, Italy. The company was started by Scott Olson (b. 1960), Brennan Olson (b. 1964) and Christopher Middlebrook in Minneapolis a ...

Aggressive inline skates use Zytel in the Grind Plates. *Zytel is used in the frame and grip assemblies in many of the firearms manufactured by

Kel-Tec Kel-Tec CNC Industries Inc., commonly referred to as Kel-Tec, is an American developer and manufacturer of firearms. Founded by George Kellgren in 1991 and based in Cocoa, Florida, the company has manufactured firearms since 1995, starting with ...

. *The original Laser roller skates had the plates and trucks made from Zytel. *The frame of the

Smith & Wesson M&P The Smith & Wesson M&P (Military and Police) is a polymer- framed, short recoil operated, locked breech semi-automatic pistol introduced in the summer of 2005 by the American company Smith & Wesson. It uses a Browning-type locking system. Whil ...

pistol is made of this material.

References

External links

DuPont plastics page
{{DuPont DuPont products Glass applications Thermoplastics Polyamides