PEEK

About PEEK

PEEK plastic (polyetheretherketone) is a semi-crystalline high-performance material with outstanding resistance to harsh chemicals, excellent mechanical strength, and dimensional stability. It offers hydrolysis resistance to steam, water, and seawater. PEEK material maintains stiffness at high temperatures and is suitable for continuous use at temperatures up to 338°F (170°C).

This high-performance plastic has a proven track record in challenging environments, including aerospace, oil and gas, food and beverage processing, and semiconductor applications.

Length, width, thickness, and diameter tolerances vary by size, by manufacturer, brand, and grade. Custom sizes and colors available upon request.

PEEK Plastic Properties, Grades, and Material Options

PEEK material options include unfilled, glass-filled, bearing, FDA-compliant, detectable, and recycled grades.

Virgin PEEK (unfilled)– Virgin unfilled PEEK is naturally abrasion resistant.

Glass-Filled PEEK– Compared with unfilled PEEK, glass-filled PEEK offers enhanced mechanical and thermal properties, excellent resistance in harsh chemical environments, and electrical insulation.

Bearing Grade PEEK– Bearing grade PEEK has enhanced bearing and wear properties. TECAPEEK® PVX is an ultra high performance bearing material with wear enhancing additives.

FDA Compliant PEEK– FDA-compliant PEEK grades are available that meet FDA requirements.

Optical, Metal and X-ray Detectable PEEK– TECAPEEK® UD is a dark blue, FDA-compliant detectable PEEK plastic designed for the food and beverage processing and pharmaceutical industries. This metal and x-ray detectable material has a heat deflection temperature of over 300°F and excellent resistance to a wide range of cleaning chemicals.

Recycled PEEK– Ketron® Sterra® 1000 PEEK is a recycled-content, general-purpose unfilled PEEK that combines exceptional toughness, high elongation, and excellent chemical inertness with a significantly lower carbon footprint, making it ideal for demanding instrument and seal components.

Spin-Molded PEEK Tube– Spin-molded PEEK tube is produced using a melt-spinning process and is available in unfilled and filled grades. Also called spun-cast, DCMS, or melt-spun PEEK, it has low molded-in stress and good machinability for split ring applications.

Calendered PEEK Sheet– Calendered PEEK is processed into thin-gauge sheet and roll stock. It may also be used to produce strips, coils, and punched washers and can reduce the machining required to obtain thin PEEK components.

Tech Tip: Selecting PEEK for Low Thermal Expansion– When polymers are required for applications that involve large changes in temperature, best practices involve selecting a filled grade of a stable (low CTE) base polymer. When fillers are added to highly stable base polymers such as VICTREX® PEEK, the resulting composites exhibit extremely low CTE values, which makes PEEK a good candidate for applications requiring plastics with CTEs as close as possible to those of metals.

For additional PEEK machining information, review Curbell Plastics’ plastic milling guidelines, plastic drilling guidelines, and plastic turning guidelines.

Values may vary according to brand name. Please ask your Curbell Plastics representative for more specific information about an individual brand.