SABIC Innovative Plastics today announced that Leedarson Lighting – a leading end-to-end private label lighting manufacturer and provider of energy saving lighting solutions – has selected LNP Konduit thermally conductive compound in a new white formulation to manufacture heat sinks for two of its light-emitting diode (LED) retrofit bulbs.
Headquartered in Xiamen, China, Leedarson is utilizing the new LNP Konduit compound material as a replacement for aluminum in these heat sinks to achieve key goals: stylish and heat-stable white color without the need for secondary painting; higher productivity through the use of injection molding; and compliance with industry requirements for electrical isolation. By combining superior aesthetics and production advantages with outstanding heat dissipation performance, LNP Konduit compound can help drive adoption of LED lighting and expand its benefits of energy savings and reduced environmental impact.
“As the first lighting manufacturer to use white LNP Konduit compound for heat sinks, we are leading the industry by offering high-efficiency, stylish LED retrofit products to consumers,” said Eder Lee, general manager, Leedarson Lighting. “We believe improved appearance of LED bulbs will have a significant effect on market acceptance. As demand increases, LNP Konduit compound will make it easy for us to boost production capacity because injection molding is highly scalable compared to metalworking. This versatile material also provides the freedom to design the next generation of heat sinks for future LED technologies.”
“With life spans of up to 50,000 hours and very low power consumption, LED lights hold tremendous potential for energy conservation,” said Peter Chan, president, Greater China, SABIC Innovative Plastics. “As part of our commitment to sustainability solutions, SABIC Innovative Plastics offers a portfolio of specialty materials that can enhance LED design and manufacturing. In particular, our LNP Konduit compounds for heat sinks can play a crucial role in optimizing brightness performance and long useful life of LEDs. Our pioneering work with Leedarson Lighting is an important milestone in achieving these environmental goals.”
Replacing Aluminum with LNP Konduit Compounds
Leedarson created cylindrical heat sinks for its 2 watt (W) clear candle-shaped LED bulb and its 2W clear, round LED bulb using the new white LNP Konduit compound. These bulbs are sold in major home improvement stores and worldwide chain stores. Leedarson evaluated other conductive thermoplastics and chose LNP Konduit compound for its superior conductive performance, non-halogenated flame retardance, electrical isolation properties to pass the 6k V breakdown test, and stable color performance.
Compared to aluminum and other metals, thermally conductive compounds typically have lower coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) that help reduce stresses from differential expansion. They also weigh significantly less than aluminum.
LNP Konduit compounds offer tremendous flexibility to designers, who benefit from the freedom to create complex shapes and achieve part integration using injection molding instead of traditional stamping, casting and secondary finishing required by metals. Thermoplastics open the door to innovative configurations that can optimize heat transfer – all while providing the cost benefits of high-volume production.