Acrylic sheet for lighting applications

Acrylic - generally has superior optical properties compared with polycarbonate. It offers good light transmission, diffusion of LED hot spots, and is easy to fabricate.

Acrylic sheet is used for a wide range of lighting applications including:

• Commercial lighting fixtures
• Point-of-purchase displays
• Backlit signs

Acrylic has a number of benefits for lighting applications:

• Outstanding optical properties
• The highest light transmission of any plastic material
• Naturally UV stable for outdoor use (and available in grades with enhanced UV stability)

LED light diffusing acrylics including OPTIX® LD, OPTIX® 95 LED, OPTIX® Frost LED, and Plexiglas® Sylk are engineered to diffuse hot spots while maintaining very high light transmission.

Polycarbonate sheet for lighting applications

Polycarbonate - is tougher and more durable than acrylic. It can operate at a higher temperature, and has superior flammability characteristics. Polycarbonate sheet and film have good light transmission, excellent diffusion of LED hot spots, and offer impact resistance along with good heat resistance. Polycarbonate film offers additional benefits including flexibility and formability. 

Polycarbonate sheet offers a number of advantages for lighting applications including: 

• Increased toughness
• The ability to operate at elevated temperatures
• Outstanding flammability characteristics
• Can be cold formed into complex shapes such as curved light diffusers
• Available in UV stabilized grades that are engineered for outdoor use

Special grades of polycarbonate are engineered to meet even the most stringent flammability requirements for aircraft and mass transit lighting.

TUFFAK® Lumen XT is a translucent, white polycarbonate sheet with LED light diffusing additives and a textured surface. This material does an outstanding job of diffusing LED hot spots while still having high light transmission. TUFFAK® Lumen XT is available in a number of different formulations, allowing designers to select the optimum balance of light diffusion and light transmission for a particular application.

TUFFAK® Lumen XT-V has enhanced flammability characteristics and is intended for lighting applications where the most stringent flammability performance is required. 0.118 inch thick TUFFAK® Lumen XT-V passes UL 94 V0 and UL 94 5VA testing. It is available in 3 different levels of light transmission and diffusion.

TUFFAK® DX-NR is a translucent polycarbonate sheet designed for outdoor use with a non-reflective UV texture on one side. It offers superior impact strength over glass and acrylic and has higher flammability resistance than acrylic diffusers.