Nylon Coating and Medical Equipment

For a project to be successful, the selection of the powder coating type is often critical. At Secoa Technology, our technicians and finishers are aware that a coating can make or break the capability of a product to perform to its full potential. For longevity, durability and excellent chemical and physical properties for medical equipment, we often recommend the application of a nylon coating.

Why Choose a Nylon Coating?

Nylon-based coatings provide a commonly available thermoplastic powder popular for its abrasion and chemical resistance. Overall, those in the medical equipment production industries find nylon appealing because of the material’s ability to combine certain critical chemical, physical, mechanical, and performance properties. Nylon, including our favorite product, Rilsan Nylon 11, is easy to clean, smooth in appearance and very resistant to wear-and-tear. In the medical industry, these characteristics are very important. So, too is nylon’s ability to withstand the harsh conditions of sterilization and cleaning.

The need for equipment such as catheters and similar medical instruments, to undergo serious and regular cleaning is an essential and normal procedure for all types of medical equipment. Whether it is a bed or finely tuned forceps, the use of a nylon coating can ensure the equipment performs optimally even after multiple washing and/or sterilization processes.

Another characteristic of nylon also comes into play when companies are considering the production of medical equipment. This is electrical conductivity. The use of nylon coatings on such surgical instruments as electrosurgical forceps provides insulation against electrical conductivity. This prevents the radio frequency current from traveling through the instrument and increasing the risk of burning non-targeted tissue in a medical procedure.

At Secoa Technology, we use Rilsan Nylon 11 for our medical equipment components. As a nylon coating, it provides high performance and optimal qualities clients have come to expect from nylon and our company. To learn more, call us at 706-272-0133.

Nylon is the material of choice when it comes to coating steel and aluminum instruments in a range of industries that include medical, automotive, office, and appliances. The reason nylon is the go-to material is because it has unique thermal, chemical, mechanical, and physical properties. Nylon coating is cost-effective, efficient and gives a clean finish.

Distinctions as to why nylon is a superior coating material include:

• Protection Against UV Rays

A nylon coating protects the coated metal from harmful UV rays as well as potential corrosion from the elements. The coating keeps moisture out, sealing whatever has been coated so that it won’t suffer any adverse effects from the rain, wind, snow and sun. This ensures that the product becomes more durable and will be able to last for longer.

• Nylon Protects Against Abrasion

Products that have undergone nylon coating will show higher resistance to abrasion, than products that haven’t been coated. This means products will barely suffer bruising when they fall, get scratched, or brush against rough surfaces. Nylon is at least 13 times stronger than PVC and so will grant products coated in it 13 times the resistance when compared to PVC coated products.

• Nylon Coating Provides Sterility to Medical Instruments

When it comes to medical instruments such as surgical tools, sterility is of utmost importance. Nylon coating allows medical instruments to be sterilized in a quick and efficient manner.

• Nylon Coating Reduces Noise Pollution

Metals are known to rattle, clash, jingle, and make other unwelcome noises. This is a problem with a solution. Simply coating the metal with nylon will get rid of the problem very easily. The process itself is inexpensive and doesn’t take a lot of time.

How the Nylon is Applied

Nylon is either applied to the metal via a fluid bed or electrostatically. Both methods offer effective ways to functionally protect and coat metals such as aluminum and steel.

Applying nylon electrostatically involves applying a dry powder that is negatively charged to a metal surface that is positively charged. It is later post cured.

Application using the fluid bed method involves dipping the metal that has been pre-heated in a bed of dry powder that is fluidized with compressed air. Generally, a post-cure process is not required when fluidized bed dipping is used.

Secoa Technology is authorized by Arkema to be an applicator of their Rilsan® nylon powder.