Minnesota Rubber and Plastics develops new lubricious material family

Minnesota Rubber and Plastics (MRB) has introduced Quniton, a new family of permanent, highly lubricious materials.

Quniton was developed to meet a market need for a high-performance lubricious product with permanent, low coefficient of friction (CoF) surface properties.

The material is suitable for a variety of applications in markets such as water, power, transportation, medical, and pharmaceuticals.

Quniton is designed to have a low CoF – only a fraction of that found in other materials – and resists bonding or sticking to a wide range of materials, which enhances product lifespan due to reduced wear and abrasion.

In manufacturing operations, Quniton has unique properties, which means less surface preparation requirements and faster assembly.

Unlike many current products which are merely coated, Quniton is inherently low CoF.

Previously, designers had to rely on coatings of the elastomers with products such as molybdenum disulfide, graphite, silicone oil, or PTFE powder, with the drawback that they are often not acceptable for an operator's applications.

The coatings can also be washed away from the surface, do not lend themselves to repeated autoclaving, and they may cause contamination of the application.

Quniton retains all of the performance attributes of similar high performance materials, including chemical and thermal stability.

It is suitable for applications with severe chemical exposure including acids, bases, and solvents, and is capable of handling temperatures up to 262°C.

Some typical Quniton applications include water heater valves, flowmeters, syringe plugs, plunger seals, vial seals, and seals for larger syringes and plungers, rotary shaft and actuator seals, and standard O-rings and Quad rings.

Quniton is also useful in ozonised and high-dosage UV streams used for sanitisation.

Any metal to rubber interface or any dynamic seal in contact with transmission oil or fuels are also suitable applications.