I. Core demand analysis of smart home injection materials
Smart home products have increasingly stringent requirements for injection materials, which need to balance the three dimensions of function, cost and environmental protection:
1. Functional requirements
High temperature resistance: smart sockets, lamps, etc. need to withstand high temperature above 80℃ for a long time (PC resistant to 130℃, PP modified up to 150℃)
Impact resistance: the shell of the sweeping robot needs to withstand the drop impact (the impact strength of PC is 60-80 kJ/m², ABS is 8-30 kJ/m²)
Flame retardant grade: UL94 V-0 standard for smart appliances safety bottom line (PC natural flame retardant, ABS need to add flame retardant)
2. Appearance and workmanship
High gloss (ABS surface is easy to spray, PC can be electroplated)
Transparency requirements (PC light transmittance >90%, PP translucency needs to be modified)
3. Cost and environmental protection
PP unit price is the lowest (0.8-10,000 yuan/ton), PC is the highest (20-30,000 yuan/ton)
New EU regulations require recyclable materials (PP food grade proportion increased by 30%)
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Two, the three material performance horizontal comparison
Key indicators comparison table
Indicators
ABS
PC
PP
Strength of impact
High (8-30 kJ/m²)
Very high (60-80 kJ/m²)
Low (need to be modified)
Heat resistance
70-80 ℃
130 ℃
100-150 ℃
Transparency
opacity
High transparency (optional optical grade)
Translucency (can be modified)
Cost
Medium (12,15,000 yuan/ton)
High (20,000-30,000 yuan/ton)
Low (0.8-10,000 yuan/ton)
Difficulty of processing
Easy molding (good fluidity)
High (high temperature and high pressure required)
Easy (low temperature injection molding)
Environmental protection
Containing styrene (to be treated)
Recyclable (sorting required)
Food grade (non-toxic)
Third, scenario-based selection suggestions
1. High transparency requirement: smart panel/camera housing
Preferred material: PC (light transmittance >90%, scratch resistance, for example, according to Xiaomi screen module patent (CN222232826U), which adopts multi-layer structure design, combined with anti-glare coating technology, it is expected that PC substrate + anti-glare scheme is the mainstream choice.)
Cost reduction scheme: modified PP+ antireflection agent (cost reduction 40%, light transmittance up to 85%)
2. High temperature resistance scene: smart socket/lamp structure
PP advantages: high temperature resistance of 150℃ (industry research shows that glass fiber reinforced PP is widely used in the manufacture of smart socket shell due to its high temperature resistance characteristics, representing brands including Huawei, Xiaomi, etc.)
Guide to avoid pit: Avoid using ABS (easy to soften and deform above 80℃)
3. Low cost and large volume: intelligent switch/remote control shell
ABS cost performance: low comprehensive cost (Midian intelligent switch ABS accounts for more than 60%)
Modification trend: ABS+PC alloy (increase heat resistance to 100℃, increase cost by 20%)
4. Environmental priority: children's equipment/kitchen appliances
Food grade PP: through FDA certification (such as Jiuyang soybean milk machine liner)
Cutting-edge solution: Bio-based PP (30% reduction in carbon footprint, fully promoted by IKEA 2025)
Fourth, industry trends and selection errors
1. Material modification technology
PC/ABS alloy: Balance heat resistance and toughness (Tesla Smart door lock application)
Nano-filled PP: surface hardness increased by 50% (replacing part of ABS shell)
2. Correct common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: "ABS is superior to PP in high temperature resistance" : the measured heat resistance of PP is reversed after modification
Misunderstanding 2 "PC must choose high-end products" : low transparency demand can be reduced by PP (such as intelligent socket internal parts)
3. Testing standards
Required inspection items: UL94 flame retardant grade (V-0), 1.5m drop test (GB/T 2423.8)
Summary
The selection of smart home injection molding needs to be scene-driven: PC is common in the application of high-end transparent parts, PP is widely used in high temperature resistance scenes, and ABS is used in the pursuit of cost-effective products. Modification technologies (such as bio-based PP and nanoalloys) will reshape the industry landscape in 2025, and it is recommended that enterprises establish a dynamic selection database to cope with the changes.
ZIBO HUIWEN Plastics offers a full range of plastic molding capabilities to efficiently mass-produce parts specializing in injection molding and have served customers in variety of industries such as medical, automotive, packaging, construction, home appliances , and agriculture. The company has two factories which occupy a total area of more than 18,000 square meters, and a total of 102 sets of injection molding machines .
COmpetitive products:
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