Most people perceive e-cigarettes as the safer types of cigarettes thus playing a major role in changing the tobacco industry in the past few decades. PEEK in E-cigarettes heat e-liquids as opposed to burning tobacco so while some manufacturers have argued that e-cigarettes are less likely to harm the respiratory system. The metals, ceramics, plastic/rubber compositions, fibers and foam are in e-cigarette structures among others.
The presently trending material for implementing in the heat-not-burn (HNB) e-cigarette market is PEEK (polyether ether ketone). It is used in many units like outer shells, heating plate substrates, and atomization bowls. PEEK is preferred in luxurious e-cigarette products because of its mechanical strength and thermal, and chemical stability.
High-Temperature Resistance: PEEK in e-cigarettes can be used because of its ability to tolerate high temperatures used in heating of e-juice and some E-cigarettes heating components.
Low Friction: PEEK in E-cigarettes has low friction which makes it helpful in the construction of parts that make e-cigarette more durable, efficient and long lasting.
Chemical Resistance: The chemical resistance capability of PEEK allows the product not to deteriorate when in contact with several e-liquids, thus, its ability to maintaining product quality.
Higher Recognition and Sector Problems.
Nevertheless, the industry is not devoid of problems, and considering that e-cigarettes’ popularity is steadily rising, one may expect the existing difficulties to be quite vast.
Manufacturers promote e-cigarettes as products to help quit or to reduce smoking cigarettes. However, the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers e-cigarettes as tobacco products which are bound to set certain standard of regulation. Thus, additional research, especially paradigmatic studies, and development of more controlled protocols for identifying potential in the performers are invaluable in the further evolution of the industry. These measures will in turn improve the knowledge on the design of the e-cigarettes and the aerosol generation leading to better and safer products for consumers
To sum up, the usage of advanced material, particularly PEEK in e-cigarettes shows a shift toward using superior materials in the enhancement of functionality and safety. For instance, there is a large MFS company Philip Morris International, which is among the leaders in the HNB segment, manufacturing about 50 million e-cigarette devices per year, which require approximately 235 tons of PEEK. Thus, with the possible opening of the domestic market, the annual demand could amount to 1,100 tons.
The followings are some environmental benefits relating to the use of HNB e-cigarettes over traditional cigarettes: no open flame, no combustion, less smell and no second hand smoke. These benefits play an incredibly important role in decreasing the influence of the encroachment on the surrounding environment and a quality of life of individuals.
Performance Enhancements: High-diffusion PEEK and low thermal conductivity PEEK itself is the development of the future of electronic cigarettes.
Heat Management: These properties further assists in efficient heating of e- cigarettes and of course help in extending the battery life of PEEK.
PEEK is employed in HNB e-cigarettes for the heating element bases and chambers they are heat resistance due to their low thermal conduction. All these components must be able to maintain their solidity and strength at high temperatures; additionally, losses must be minimized.
PEEK components are made via the injection molding process. The barrel temperature that is typically set at a range of 360~385℃ is the best to avoid any PEEK’s thermal degradation and for the right performance of the components.
The poor thermal conducting property and high diffusing rates of PEEK materials make the heat transfer and radiation losses lower and increase heating efficiency as well as battery life of the e-cigarettes.
Chemical of PEEK makes it possible for parts that come into contact with different types of e-liquids not to deteriorate gradually, hence providing stability and safety to resulting products.
Thanks to the high strength and rigidity, PEEK can reliably resist the mechanical loads that arise during vaping and the service life of the e-cigarette will be longer.
Due to the high thermal stability (up to 250℃) does not deform PEEK in e-cigarettes components and preserves the stability and tightness of the e-cigarette as an object.
Therefore, PEEK has high chemical resistant and is not easily deteriorated by acids, bases, solvents, and other chemical substance further enhancing the life span of the product.
Due to low thermal conductivity of PEEK, the temperatures of both the heating chamber and battery are well regulated in terms of heating efficiency of the heating chamber and usage of the battery.
The characteristics of high mechanical strength and rigidity of PEEK make it possible to minimize the susceptibility to mechanical stress during the use of the end product, thus making the end product more reliable.
Injection molding parameters (e. g. , barrel temperature, screw speed, mold temperature) for PEEK are fine - tuned to positively affect the dimensional stability and precision of peek in e-cigarette parts.
Based on the evidences presented above, PEEK is expected to hold a significant destiny in the future development of e-cigarette industry. Superiorities not only enhance the vaporization and safety of e-cigarettes but also effectively resolve most of the issues of the present day industry. Over time this trend will continue and expand, not least when standardization procedures are set up for research and application; there is no doubt that the use of PEEK in e-cigarettes will increase in the future and guarantee a safer experience.
Zhejiang BW Industry invested 15 million new PEEK application technology R&D center has been put into use, with the help of this R&D center, our technicians can provide a lot of technical services for the e-cigarette industry, mainly including:
