High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS) | Styrene Sheet

High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS), also called styrene, is a versatile, impact resistant, and inexpensive plastic. It is a lightweight material that is easy to thermoform, machine, and fabricate and is often used for low strength structural applications. Styrene readily accepts paint and glue and is dimensionally stable, making it a preferred material for prototypes.

• [Styrene Datasheet]
• [Renovo-HIPS^™ PDF Spec Sheet]

Styrene plastic is odorless, nontoxic, and recyclable. Certain grades of this material are FDA approved and are used in the food industry for packaging applications such as take-out containers.

Styrene is a strong and reliable plastic with high impact strength and outstanding thermoforming properties. Styrene's cost-effective price combined with its high impact resistance and machinability make it a common material for use in prototypes, model making, machine housings, and molds.

Styrene is used in televisions, toys, gas tanks, and other projects because of its high impact strength and durability. Styrene is also commonly used in construction insulation projects because the material is easy to work with, highly resistant to moisture, and a great heat insulator.

Styrene and PVC are two different plastics. Styrene is a thermoplastic material engineered from strong polystyrene resins combined with polybutadiene while PVC, or polyvinyl chloride, is a thermoplastic made of chlorine and ethylene. Although styrene and PVC may share some of the same applications, PVC is typically used in more robust applications because of its better chemical resistance and mechanical strength.