Symposium Review: Qnity, DuPont, and Insulectro Forge Ahead with Advanced Materials

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

In a dynamic and informative Innovation Symposium hosted live and on Zoom on June 25, 2025, representatives from Qnity (DuPont's electronics business), DuPont, and Insulectro discussed the evolving landscape of flexible circuit materials. From strategic corporate changes to cutting-edge polymer films, the session offered deep insight into design challenges, reliability, and next-gen solutions shaping the electronics industry.

Qnity: A New Era of Innovation

Jake Joo, representing the soon to be formed Qnity, outlined how the spin-off from DuPont Electronics will position the company for faster decision-making and continued growth. With a $5 billion portfolio in electronics, interconnects, and semiconductors, Qnity is symbolically and strategically branded—the “Q” in Qnity referencing electric charge.

Chris Hunrath, VP of Technology at Insulectro, introduced the session with a nod to the long-standing DuPont partnership and emphasized their hands-on, field-based approach. “We're here to support and prosper with our partners,” Hunrath said. He welcomed Dain Hertsgaard, flex product manager at Insulectro, who shared his extensive experience in fabrication and design.

Why Flex Circuits Matter More Than Ever

As Hertsgaard explained, flex and rigid-flex materials aren’t just about saving space—they’re essential to enhancing signal integrity, reducing weight, and increasing reliability. A standard wire-based board may run for 457,000 operating hours, but a flex board could exceed 2 million hours, making it ideal for mission-critical applications like aerospace, satellites, and drones.

One reason is the elimination of traditional hardwired interconnects. Flex designs simplify the stackup, which significantly improves mechanical performance and longevity.

Material Science in Action: Kapton and Pyralux

Chris Hunrath walked attendees through the challenges and advantages of various materials. While fiberglass is favored in rigid systems for its strength and affordability, it’s poorly suited to flex environments due to limited elasticity. The better option? Kapton and Pyralux are known for their thermal stability and flexibility.

Kapton serves as the foundational material in DuPont’s Pyralux products. It provides the balance of durability and flexibility that rigid systems lack and stands up to thermal reflow cycles—making it a go-to choice for flex circuit design.

Flex Circuit Building Blocks

Hertsgaard introduced the three key product categories in the Pyralux portfolio:

• Cover Coat: Serves as ruggedized solder mask
• Bond Ply: Features Kapton reinforcement for dimensional stability
• Sheet Adhesives: Offers simplicity but lacks the interlayer insulation of Bond Ply

Kapton plays a crucial role by acting as a Z-stop, preventing shorts between bonded layers.

These materials are essential in developing highly reliable and customizable flex PCBs.

Best Practices in Flex Circuit Design

The presentation moved into real-world application tips:

• Avoid plated through-holes in flexible areas
• Bend conductors at 90 degrees, not angles, to minimize mechanical stress
• Move small conductors to the neutral bend axis to reduce fatigue
• Avoid stacking conductors, which increases thickness and tension
• Exclude acrylic adhesives from rigid zones due to susceptibility to processing damage

One major takeaway: Etchback on Kapton is largely unachievable due to its durability. Design teams are encouraged to consider alternative constructions or educate customers accordingly.

The Case for Dual-layer Prepregs

In rigid-flex designs, Hertsgaard emphasized the importance of using two differently sized prepreg sheets—one to align with the edge of the coverlay and one to overlap. Though more complex to fabricate, this approach reduces pressure points and prevents damage to internal circuits.

The key to success lies in process discipline: separate travelers, individual trays, and trained layup personnel.

Kapton’s Capabilities Beyond the Lab

DuPont’s Shannon Dugan followed Hertsgaard, providing a tour through Kapton’s unmatched thermal and electrical properties. Withstanding temperatures above 400°C and remaining stable down to –300°C, Kapton is not only ideal for PCBs, but also for orbiting satellites, deep-space probes, and advanced motor insulation.

Kapton’s dielectric strength, at 7,000 kV per mil, makes it nearly impervious to breakdown, and its role in the James Webb Space Telescope—where it reduced 500,000 watts of solar radiation down to just 1 watt across five aluminized layers—is a powerful demonstration of its utility.

A Universe of Kapton Films

Kapton isn’t a single material, but rather a family of hundreds of formulations, each with specialized properties:

• HN: General-purpose
• FPC: Treated surface for adhesion
• FN: With FEP adhesive layers
• MT & MT+: Corona-resistant and thermally conductive
• DR: Glossy black with ESD tuning
• WS/CS: White and clear optical films

DuPont has even developed UV-transparent and laser-compatible versions for next-gen manufacturing environments. Innovations like corona-resistant wire wraps and thermal management films are solving modern engineering challenges from Japan’s bullet trains to Martian rovers.

Insulectro: From Rolls to Results

Jeff Crawford of Insulectro explained the company’s distribution and processing strengths. As an authorized distributor of all Kapton products, Insulectro offers:

• Roll slitting and sheeting
• Custom panel sizing
• 12-station tooling systems

They maintain a significant inventory of popular SKUs like HN and FPC, and work with customers to provide specialized materials on-demand. With shorter lead times—as little as a week versus 6–8 weeks from the OEM—Insulectro offers both speed and flexibility.

Wire Wraps: A Niche with High Impact

Crawford also detailed the process of wrapping conductive wires with FEP-coated Kapton films, creating heat-sealed, flexible insulation with outstanding durability. Used extensively in space and high-performance industrial applications, this method offers superior mechanical flexibility and minimal offgassing—making it ideal for harsh environments.

Closing Thoughts and Continued Support

As the session concluded, the team fielded questions on laser drilling, UV compatibility, and etchback alternatives. One recommended workaround: negative etchback, where copper posts retract into the dielectric, eliminating the need to remove tough polyimide layers.

The speakers invited fabricators, designers, and OEMs to reach out for application support, materials selection advice, and process optimization, reinforcing their commitment to collaboration and customer success.

Today’s hybrid symposium combined the science, application, and strategic value of flexible circuit materials. With Qnity’s new chapter, DuPont’s materials leadership, and Insulectro’s fast, customized service, the future of flex circuitry is looking exceptionally bright—and remarkably bendable.