Kapton® Polyimide

Yes. There is no minimum order quantity on any Goodfellow Kapton® product. We supply individual film sheets, single coils, and small-format disks as standard — at the same price and with the same full documentation as a bulk order. This applies to every grade and every form in the range.

Goodfellow stocks the full DuPont Kapton® range including HN (general purpose), FPC (flex circuit), HPP-ST (high stability), MT (thermal management), B (matte black / light-blocking), CRC (corona-resistant), and 200RS100 (static dissipative). The majority of grades are held in multiple product forms — films, coils, and disks — supporting same-week dispatch for virtually every grade. Contact us to check availability on any specific grade, thickness, or width.

We stock Kapton® in film (flat sheet and sized pieces), coil (roll form for continuous processing), and disk formats across all grades. Metallized variants — Kapton® HN with a 30 nm aluminum layer — are available in film, coil, and disk form for EMI shielding and reflective applications. Custom-cut shapes and precision-machined components are available on request through our Microfabrication and Cutting Services teams.

All standard Kapton® grades (HN, FPC, HPP-ST, MT, B, and CRC) share a continuous service range of −269 °C to +400 °C. This makes Kapton® unique among polymer films — it is one of the very few materials capable of reliable performance from deep cryogenic conditions (liquid helium temperature) through to sustained high-temperature industrial service. The 200RS100 static-dissipative grade has a continuous service limit of +200 °C (+325 °C short-term in an oxygen-free environment).

Kapton® FPC is the correct choice for flexible and rigid-flex PCB applications. It is IPC-4202/1 compliant and engineered specifically for fine-line copper lamination, with a double-sided adhesion-treated surface, superior lay-flat characteristics, and reduced dimensional shrinkage compared with HN. For applications requiring maximum dimensional stability and lamination adhesion — such as satellite sensor encapsulation or space-qualified assemblies — Kapton® HPP-ST offers further reduced CTE and an enhanced adhesion surface over FPC.

Kapton® HN is the industry reference grade: balanced all-round electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties, conforming to ASTM D-5213. Its surface is untreated. Kapton® FPC shares the same base polymer and core properties but adds a double-sided adhesion treatment and is manufactured to tighter dimensional tolerances to meet IPC-4202/1 for flex circuit substrates. If your application involves copper lamination, fine-line patterning, or a qualification standard requiring IPC compliance, specify FPC. For general insulation, heater substrates, masking, and research use, HN is the standard selection.

Kapton® MT is a ceramic-filled grade with a thermal conductivity of 0.46 W/m·K — approximately three times that of standard HN (0.20 W/m·K). Specify MT wherever heat dissipation through the film is a design requirement: EV battery thermal interface layers, power electronics substrates, LED thermal management, and motor slot insulation are the primary applications. The ceramic filler increases stiffness and modulus relative to HN and reduces dielectric strength slightly (~216 kV/mm vs 303 kV/mm), so confirm these trade-offs are acceptable before substituting MT for HN in purely electrical applications.

Kapton® B is a carbon-black-pigmented grade with a homogeneous matte black finish throughout the film thickness. It is opaque to visible light, making it the correct selection wherever light exclusion is required alongside the electrical and thermal performance of polyimide — optical baffles, shielded flex circuits, and sensor insulation in photosensitive assemblies being typical uses. Its carbon pigmentation also raises tensile strength slightly above HN (~241 MPa vs 231 MPa). It is not a conductive grade; volume resistivity is 10¹⁸ Ω·cm, higher than standard HN.

Kapton® CRC (Corona-Resistant Coated) is formulated to withstand partial discharge events that occur in AC inverter-driven motor systems and high-voltage transformer windings. Variable-frequency drives produce fast-switching voltage waveforms that generate corona discharges which degrade standard polyimide films over time; CRC provides significantly higher voltage endurance under these conditions. It is the correct specification for inverter-duty AC motors, rail and automotive traction systems, wind and hydro generators, and any winding insulation operating in environments where partial discharge cannot be eliminated.

Kapton® 200RS100 is the only electrically conductive grade in the Kapton® range. It is a standard HN film with a resistive carbon coating applied to one surface, giving a controlled surface resistivity of approximately 100 Ω/sq. This makes it suitable for EMI shielding, ESD-sensitive flex circuit applications, cleanroom packaging, and antistatic insulation layers. Its continuous service temperature is limited to +200 °C (versus +400 °C for the uncoated grades), with a short-term excursion limit of +325 °C in oxygen-free conditions.

Yes. Kapton® HN retains its electrical insulation and mechanical integrity down to −269 °C (liquid helium temperature) — one of the lowest continuous-service temperatures of any polymer film. It is widely used for wiring insulation in superconducting magnets, MRI systems, particle accelerator instrumentation, and cryogenic detector assemblies. For structural cryogenic components requiring a machinable solid form rather than a film, Vespel® SP1 is the complementary material, and Goodfellow stocks both.

Kapton® is manufactured by DuPont to tightly controlled specifications and carries a consistent, traceable performance profile backed by decades of qualification data. Unbranded polyimide film — which Goodfellow also supplies — covers a broader thickness range (0.025–6.35 mm), is available without additives, and carries no brand premium, making it appropriate for general insulation, laboratory masking, and prototyping where DuPont certification is not a specification requirement. Where a customer's design standard, qualification file, or end-use sector (aerospace, medical, defense) references Kapton® by name or DuPont part number, the branded product is required. Contact our Technical Solutions team if you need guidance on whether a given application can be met by unbranded PI.

All Kapton® products are supplied with a Certificate of Analysis (CoA) and a Technical Data Sheet (TDS) referencing the relevant DuPont specification. Goodfellow operates under an ISO 9001 quality management system. Additional documentation — including RoHS and ELV compliance declarations (all grades comply with EU Directives 2015/863/EU and 2000/53/EC) — can be requested at time of order.

Standard stocked Kapton® grades dispatch within 48–72 hours. Delivery is free worldwide — no minimum order value is required, and customs clearance is handled on your behalf.

Yes. Our supply model is designed to follow projects through their full lifecycle — from small research quantities with no minimum order, through to production scale supported by call-off orders, buffer stock holding, and fixed pricing to give you cost visibility. We recommend discussing production planning early, even before your R&D phase is complete, so we can flag any processing or tolerancing considerations that become relevant at volume.