Polymer Micro-Compounding
Micro Cast Film Line
Xplore Micro Cast Film Lines produce high-quality cast films from just a few grams of material, making them well-suited for research involving limited quantities or high-value polymers and additives. Fully compatible with Xplore micro-compounders, they enable a seamless workflow from compounding to film production, generating representative films within minutes at a fraction of the material cost of conventional methods.
Precise Film Drawing Control
Adjustable speed ranging from 100 to 5000 mm/min in 1 mm/min increments for optimal film processing.
Uniform Film Quality
An air knife positioned immediately after the die prevents film necking, ensuring even thickness and quality.
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High-precision System for Rapid Development
The Xplore Micro Cast Film Line is a compact, research-focused platform for polymer film screening and formulation development, designed to produce high-quality cast films using only a few grams of material. Traditional film development methods demand significant material quantities, making early-stage screening costly and inefficient, particularly when working with newly synthesized polymers, specialty additives, or high-value compounds.
By enabling precise film production at the laboratory scale, the system allows researchers to evaluate film properties, processing behavior, and formulation performance while consuming only a fraction of the material typically required. Fully compatible with Xplore Micro-Compounders, it creates a streamlined workflow from compounding to film production, accelerating research and development cycles and reducing material costs across applications including active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), experimental polymer blends, and other specialty materials where availability is limited.
The Micro Cast Film line is available in 3 configurations:
Cast Film Line 35
• Film width: 35 mm
• Minimum Batch Size: 5 ml
• Calenders: 2
Cast Film Line 65
• Film width: 65 mm
• Minimum Batch Size: 15 ml
• Calenders: 2
Cast Film Pro Line 65
• Film width: 65 mm
• Minimum Batch Size: 15 ml
• Calenders: 2 with additional weight adjustable pinch roll
Xplore Micro Cast Film Line
Cast Film Line Product Features
Precise Film Processing and Drawing Control
The Micro Cast Film Line offers highly accurate control over film drawing speed, enabling researchers to fine-tune film formation conditions for different polymer systems. Drawing speeds are adjustable from 100 to 5000 mm/min, with fine increments of 1 mm/min, allowing precise control over film thickness, orientation, and mechanical properties. This level of control is essential when studying the effects of processing parameters on film morphology, crystallinity, and final material performance.
Stable Winding with Torque-Controlled Tension
To ensure consistent film collection during operation, the system features a torque-controlled winding system. A second collecting drum automatically compensates for the increasing roll diameter as film accumulates, maintaining stable tension throughout the process. Film tension can be adjusted with 1 Nm precision, ensuring uniform film winding while minimizing stretching or deformation that could otherwise affect film properties.
Uniform Film Thickness and Quality
An integrated air knife positioned immediately after the extrusion die stabilizes the molten film during the initial stages of cooling. By preventing film necking, the air knife helps maintain consistent film width and uniform thickness, which is critical for producing high-quality films suitable for characterization and testing.
Enhanced Film Handling and Cooling
To improve film stability during processing, the system offers an optional air-cooled take-up roll. Cooling the first take-up roll helps stabilize the film immediately after extrusion, improving handling and reducing deformation or sticking when processing temperature-sensitive materials.
Additional calendaring rolls provide slip-free film transport, ensuring smooth film movement throughout the line while maintaining consistent film quality.
Flexible and Customizable Platform
The Micro Cast Film Line can be configured with additional calendars and customized system components to meet specific research requirements. This flexibility allows the system to support a wide range of film processing studies.
Xplore Micro Cast Film Line
Micro Cast Film Line Product Models
Xplore offers three Micro Cast Film Line models, each designed to produce high-quality cast films efficiently while minimizing material usage. These systems enable precise film formulation and process control, making them ideal for research and development applications.
Cast Film Line 35 (CFL 35)
Xplore’s 3D print filament line is designed to produce high-quality Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) filaments with precision and efficiency. It integrates with the Xplore MC 15 HT or MC 40 micro-compounder, creating a fully integrated 3D print filament screening system. This add-on provides a cost-effective solution for generating consistent, reliable filaments while minimizing waste and infrastructure costs.
The CFL 35 can produce films up to 35 mm wide and as thin as 5 μm, enabling researchers to investigate a broad range of film thicknesses and material properties. An integrated air knife positioned immediately after the die stabilizes the molten film and minimizes necking, helping maintain uniform film width and thickness.
The film handling system includes two calender drums mounted on a rigid anodized aluminum frame, which allows precise adjustment of both the distance between the film die and the first drum as well as the spacing between the two drums. This adjustability provides fine control over film drawing and cooling conditions.
Both calender drums feature polished nickel surfaces to ensure smooth film transport and consistent surface quality. One drum operates under speed control, regulating the film drawing speed, while the second drum is torque-controlled, maintaining stable film tension as the film is collected. Together, these mechanisms ensure controlled film processing and reliable production of high-quality laboratory-scale cast films.
Cast Film Line 65 (CFL 65)
The CFL 65 Micro Cast Film Line is engineered to produce high-quality wide cast films up to 65 mm in width while using very small material quantities. Designed for advanced polymer research and formulation development, the system can generate films with thicknesses ranging from ultra-thin films of approximately 5 µm to thicker strip formats, with a minimum batch size of about 15 ml. Typical film production cycles can be completed in less than 10 minutes, enabling rapid experimental iteration.
CFL 65 utilizes a precision heated film die designed to ensure uniform melt distribution across the full film width. The die is heated using two integrated heating cartridges, providing stable thermal control and enabling processing temperatures of up to 425 °C. This high-temperature capability allows researchers to process a wide range of polymers, including high-performance and engineering-grade materials. To ensure consistent film quality, an air knife positioned immediately after the die prevents film necking, maintaining uniform film width and thickness during the initial cooling phase.
The cast film line also includes two drum winders mounted on a rigid anodized aluminum frame, which allows precise adjustment of both the distance between the die and the first drum and the spacing between the two winders. These adjustable parameters allow researchers to optimize film drawing conditions and cooling profiles for different materials.
Both drums feature polished nickel surfaces, ensuring smooth film transport and high surface quality. One drum operates under speed control, determining the film draw speed, while the second drum operate under torque control, maintaining stable tension as the film is wound. For enhanced cooling and improved processing of temperature-sensitive materials, the first drum winder can optionally be air-cooled.
The CFL 65 incorporates advanced temperature control designed to meet the increasing demand for precise processing conditions in polymer research. The improved thermal stability enables researchers to better control film formation and polymer morphology, supporting detailed studies of structure–property relationships.
Cast Film Pro Line 65 (CFPL 65):
The CFPL 65 is a high-end Cast Film Pro Line (CFPL) featuring three calenders, offering extensive R&D capabilities. The CFPL 65 has an additional, dual roll calender in between the cast roll calender and the winder roll calender. This unique three calender cast film line guarantees better-controlled film samples for testing optical, mechanical and/or barrier properties.
The CFPL ensures precise process control for testing and optimizing film formulations, particularly those with specialized properties such as optical clarity, mechanical strength, or barrier performance. In under 10 minutes, you can produce wide cast films using the heated film die, achieving thicknesses from as thin as 5 µm up to strip thicknesses. Alternatively, the CFPL allows you to produce continuous rolls of film or strips with larger sample quantities. With the CFPL, you can test and refine slippery film formulations more effectively, minimizing waste and costs. Its efficiency enables the production of over 20 unique film samples per day, making it an invaluable tool for research and development.
The cast film die is heated via two heating cartridges with 160-Watt heating capacity each. Maximum operating temperature is 425 °C. The cast film line incorporates an air knife and two air pins positioned immediately after the die to stabilize the molten film and minimize necking during formation. Film handling is managed by three sequential calenders mounted on an adjustable anodized aluminum frame, allowing precise positioning relative to the die and between the calenders.
The first calender, a speed-controlled cast roll with a guide roll (optionally air-cooled), defines the film draw speed and therefore plays a key role in determining film thickness. The second transport calender operates in a master–slave configuration with the first calender and includes an adjustable pinch roll that applies controlled mechanical pressure to the film to prevent slippage during transport. Optional elastic-surface rolls can be used for improved grip when processing smooth or slippery polymers.
The third calender functions as a torque-controlled winder, automatically compensating for the increasing roll diameter during operation to ensure smooth, consistent film collection. Film tension can be adjusted in fine increments to maintain uniform winding.
Together, this integrated air stabilization and multi-calender transport system ensures stable film formation, precise thickness control, and reliable film winding, enabling researchers to efficiently produce high-quality cast films while rapidly screening multiple formulations with minimal material use.
Xplore Micro Cast Film Line
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