Tokyo, Japan, January 23, 2026 – Toray Industries, Inc., announced today that it has developed a new type of TORAYFAN® biaxially-oriented polypropylene (OPP) film that is the world's first (see note 1) with a heat resistance near to that of a kind of engineering plastics (note 2). The company has started shipping samples.

The thermal dimensional stability (note 3) and release properties (note 4) are excellent even at an ambient temperature of 160°C. A key intended use is as a high-heat-resistant release film in IC substrate, carbon fiber-reinforced plastic prepreg, and other molding processes, where fluorinated films are widely used today. Toray will continue technical development to meet customer application needs.

Manufacturers widely use OPP film in packaging because it resists moisture and stays clear. They also use it as an industrial material in their processes because it releases cleanly and emits little gas (note 5). Manufacturing and processing steps are diversifying as electronic devices and lightweight mobility materials evolve, so OPP film must withstand higher temperatures.

The new TORAYFAN stemmed from reinforcing Toray’s high-heat-resistance technology for OPP film and integrating it with a new high-heat-resistance surface technology employing a high-heat-resistance polyolefin resin. This reduced heat distortion to about one-tenth that of standard OPP film at 160°C (Figure 1). It also lowered wettability (note 6), which should deliver excellent release properties.

On top of the thermal dimensional stability and release properties, this new film is uncoated and absorbs little moisture. This makes it suitable for demanding applications where even thermal wrinkles or slight contamination from release components during processing, such as thermal lamination, is unacceptable. It also suits applications that cannot tolerate moisture in the film, such as processing battery components in dry rooms or in vacuum equipment used for vapor deposition and sputtering.

Toray will continue to innovate advanced, high-performance materials in keeping with its commitment to delivering new value and contributing to social progress.

Notes

1. Based on Toray research.
2. Engineering plastics deliver excellent heat resistance, mechanical properties, and wear resistance. At minimum, these plastics generally offer a heat resistance of 100°C, a tensile strength of 50 megapascals, and a flexural modulus of 2.4 gigapascals.
3. Thermal dimensional stability indicates how well a film maintains its in-plane length and width when exposed to high temperatures. Higher thermal dimensional stability suppresses shape deformation from heat, including shrinkage wrinkles, warping, and waviness.
4. Release properties indicate how easily materials peel away from film surfaces after contact or lamination.
5. Low outgassing shows that films release small amounts of moisture, additives, or other gas components.
6. Wettability is a liquid’s tendency to adhere to and spread across film surfaces, with lower wettability enhancing release performance across more diverse materials.