Kapton is a polyimide film developed by DuPont which can remain stable in a wide range of temperatures, from -269 °C to +400 °C. Kapton is used in, among other things, flexible printed circuits (flexible electronics) and Thermal Micrometeoroid Garments, the outside layer of spacesuits. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1105x436, 9 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Kapton DuPont Vespel Polyimide Shapes ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1105x436, 9 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Kapton DuPont Vespel Polyimide Shapes ... Polyimide (sometimes abbreviated PI) is a polymer of imide monomers. ... Dupont, DuPont, Du Pont, or du Pont may refer to: // E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, the worlds third largest chemical company Du Pont Motors Gilbert Dupont, a French stock brokerage part of retail banking network Crédit du Nord ST Dupont, a French manufacturer of fine... Olympus Stylus camera with skins removed, showing flex circuit assembly. ... Cross-section of layers in space suit construction An (Integrated) Thermal Micrometeoroid Garment (TMG or ITMG) is the outer layer of a space suit. ... Apollo 15 space suit A spacesuit is a complex system of garments, equipment, and environmental systems designed to keep a person alive and comfortable in the harsh environment of outer space. ...

The chemical name for Kapton H and HN is poly(4,4'-oxydiphenylene-pyromellitimide). It is produced from a diamine and pyromellitic acid by a condensation reaction producing water as byproduct. Kapton synthesis is an example of the use of a dianhydride in step polymerization. The intermediate polymer, known as a "poly(amic acid)," is soluble because of strong hydrogen bonds to the polar solvents usually employed in the reaction. The ring closure is carried out at very high temperatures (200–300 °C). Ammonia Amines are organic compounds containing nitrogen as the key atom in the amine functional group. ... A condensation reaction is a chemical reaction in which two molecules or moieties combine to form one single molecule, together with the loss of a small molecule. ... An example of a quadruple hydrogen bond between a self-assembled dimer complex reported by Meijer and coworkers. ... A solvent is a liquid that dissolves a solid, liquid, or gaseous solute, resulting in a solution. ...

Kapton insulated wiring has been widely used in civil and military avionics (electrical wiring for aircraft) because of its very light weight compared to other insulator types as well as good insulating and temperature characteristics. However it was soon found to have very poor resistance to mechanical wear, mainly abrasion within cable harnesses due to aircraft movement. Many aircraft models have had to undergo extensive rewiring modifications, sometimes completely replacing all the Kapton-insulated wiring, because of short circuits caused by the faulty insulation. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

According to a NASA internal report, Space Shuttle "wires were coated with an insulator known as Kapton that tended to break down over time, causing short circuits and, potentially, fires.[1]" The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory has considered Kapton as a good plastic support for solar sails because of its long duration in the space environment (J. L. Wright, Space Sailing, Gordon and Breach, 1992). This article is about the American space agency. ... NASAs Space Shuttle, officially called Space Transportation System (STS), is the United States governments current manned launch vehicle. ... This article is about the American space agency. ... For the singer/songwriter, see Jon Peter Lewis. ... Solar sails (also called light sails, especially when they use light sources other than the Sun) are a proposed form of spacecraft propulsion. ...

Kapton is also commonly used as a material for windows of all kinds at x-ray sources (synchrotron beam-lines and x-ray tubes) and x-ray detectors. Its high mechanical and thermal stability as well as its high transmittance to x-rays make it the preferred material. It also does not suffer from radiation damage^[1]. Another prominent material for these purposes is beryllium. In the NATO phonetic alphabet, X-ray represents the letter X. An X-ray picture (radiograph) taken by Röntgen An X-ray is a form of electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength approximately in the range of 5 pm to 10 nanometers (corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 PHz... Synchrotrons are now mostly used for producing monochromatic high intensity X-ray beams; here, the synchrotron is the circular track, off which the beamlines branch. ... An X-Ray tube is a vacuum tube designed to produce man made X-Ray photons on demand. ... Radiation as used in physics, is energy in the form of waves or moving subatomic particles. ... General Name, symbol, number beryllium, Be, 4 Chemical series alkaline earth metals Group, period, block 2, 2, s Appearance white-gray metallic Standard atomic weight 9. ...

The thermal conductivity of Kapton in temperatures from 0.5 to 5 Kelvins is rather high κ = 4.638×10⁻⁵ T^0.5678 W·cm^-1·K.^[2] This together with its good dielectric qualities and its availability as thin sheets have made it a favorite material in cryogenics (devices working in temperatures down to absolute zero, -273 °C or -460 °F). Cryogenics is a branch of physics (or engineering) that studies the production of very low temperatures (below –150 °C, –238 °F or 123 K) and the behavior of materials at those temperatures. ... Absolute zero is the lowest possible temperature where nothing could be colder, and no heat energy remains in a substance. ...

Kapton is also regularly used as an insulator in ultra-high vacuum environments as it has a low outgassing rate.

External links

• DuPont Kapton
• Kapton Product Image & Data Sheet