Today we want to talk more extensively about our Kapton® tape, its usefulness and why we consider it our workhorse. The Kapton Tape is a silicon adhesive tape with a polyamide base, developed by DuPont in the late 60’s, which remains stable over a wide range of temperatures (from -269 +400 ° C / -452 to 752 ° F; -673 K).
The kapton tape offers excellent resistance to heat, and it is designed to be used on a series of electric masks.
Ideal for wave solders, circuit board insulation, and powder coating on high temperatures, the tape has a high dielectric strength. The Kapton tape has a silicone adhesive that leaves no residue. The heat resistant tape does not soften at high temperatures. It is recommended for use when the target component is placed next to other components, and protects the other areas from excessive heat during the welding process.
Kapton is used, among other things, on flexible printed circuits (flexible electronics) and thermal blankets used in spacecraft, satellites, and various space instruments.
Use:
The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory has considered Kapton a good plastic support for solar sails due to its long duration in the space environment. NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft used Kapton in an innovative “insulated design bottle” to keep the vessel operating between 10-30 °C (50-86 °F) over its more than nine years and 3 billion miles traveling towards the dwarf planet Pluto, to which it arrived on July 14, 2015. The main body is covered in lightweight, gold-colored, multi-layered thermal insulation – like a camping survival blanket – which keeps the operating heat of the electronics to keep the spacecraft warm (thermal inertization) – 18 layers of dacron mesh fabric sandwiched between aluminized Mylar and Kapton film –. It also helped protect the micrometeorite ship.
Kapton is also commonly used as a material for windows of all kinds of X-ray sources (synchrotron light lines and X-ray tubes) and X-ray detectors. Its high mechanical and thermal stability and high transmittance to X-rays make it the preferred material. It is also relatively insensitive to radiation damage.
3D printing
Kapton and ABS adhere to each other very well, which has led to the widespread use of Kapton as a building surface for 3D printers. Kapton is placed on a flat surface and the ABS is extruded on the Kapton surface. The ABS part being printed will not separate from the construction platform when it cools and contracts, which is a common cause of unsuccessful printing and deformation of the part.
Kapton tape is also commonly used to secure components, such as thermocouples, to the hot end of the plastic extrusion machine. This helps prevent the detachment of the thermocouples, which can lead to uncontrolled overheating of the nozzle and fire.It is for its great usefulness and versatility that Kapton tape is preferred when it comes to specific tasks.