What a Polyimide Flexible Heater Is

Polyimide Flexible Heater refers to a conductor as a sandwich between two layers of polyimide film using FEP adhesive or acrylic adhesive, the conductor is made from copper foil or 304 stainless steels (copper foil conductor is similar to our commonly used FPC). Compare with Transparent heater, it can withstand high temperature – up to 200oC, and can be used under 150oC for a long time. Due to its thin (can be 0.10mm) and light capability, polyimide flexible heater has a wide range usage in industrial and precise equipment by far. 

There are two basic stack ups that commonly use, one is stick adhesive, and another is stick PI stiffener, customer can choose which one is suitable according to the end-application that will be used in. For example, if you want to increase hardness of heaters, then stick a PI stiffener is best choice for you.

The conductor determines the final resistance and power it can be reached, so it is critical in heater. Sometimes, customers don’t know which conductor is most suitable, then we always suggest according to the resistance parameters it needs. There are some common materials used as following, but not limited to:

Red copper (thickness can be 12um, 18um, 35um)

Brass (we can do 50um)

White copper (50um)

304 stainless (30um, 40um, 50um)

Fe-Cr-Al alloy (30um, 50um)

It needs to be noted when traces less than 0.25mm, conductor must be copper material.

Characteristics of Polyimide flex heater:

Thin and light

High temperature resistance (-40-200oC)

Customizable voltage (1.5V-380V)

Insulation strength>=AC1200V/60s

Insulation resistance: ≥500M Rohm

Excellent corrosion resistance

Enable to bend

Fast thermal conductive

Relatively cheaper than other heaters (Cost effective）

Applications for PI flexible heaters:

Energy battery

Cleansing instrument

3D printers

Camera (such as cars’, freezers’)

Medical infusion apparatus

Aerospace

Military industry

Welcome to contact us if you have any questions about Polyimide heaters.