Why Avient’s Stat-Tech 31 FR finally tames static in tight spaces

Reviewed: ad hoc news Accessory & Components desk. Edited and checked on 2026-06-17, 11:30. Details in the imprint.

Avient’s Stat-Tech 31 FR is one of those granular, greyish materials that never catch the eye, yet in a tight electronics cabinet or dusty conveyor line it can make the difference between calm operation and crackling static with every touch.

What Stat-Tech 31 FR is built for

Stat-Tech 31 FR is an electrically conductive, flame-retardant plastic compound designed for parts that sit right where electrostatic discharge, dust and flammable atmospheres meet. Think of housing covers, trays, or guides in printers, ATMs, medical devices and clean-room equipment.

Instead of adding a spray-on coating or clumsy grounding strips later, the conductivity is baked into the polymer itself. That means every surface and corner of the finished part can bleed off charge, even after machining or wear has roughened the edges.

How it behaves in daily use

In practice, components made from Stat-Tech 31 FR feel unremarkable to the hand - usually a slightly matte thermoplastic part. Yet when operators plug in connectors or slide cartridges, there is no telltale snap, no small shock, and far fewer mysterious sensor glitches.

Because the compound combines flame retardancy with static control, it fits neatly into cramped enclosures around power supplies or control boards. Engineers can route cables, fans and PCBs closer together without juggling separate flame-retardant housings and conductive inserts.

Key technical strengths and limits

Avient specifies Stat-Tech 31 FR to meet typical ESD-safe resistance ranges while complying with major flammability standards, depending on the exact base resin and formulation. That opens the door to replacing painted metals in weight-sensitive devices and custom fixtures.

The flip side is classic for conductive plastics: extreme precision applications that demand very tight surface resistivity windows may still require specialty compounds or carbon-loaded grades. Design teams also need to respect moisture and processing conditions to keep properties consistent from batch to batch.

Why designers pick it over metal

One of the product’s quiet advantages is mechanical freedom. With Stat-Tech 31 FR, designers can create more organic shapes, integrated clips and thin walls that would be expensive or impractical to stamp or machine from sheet metal.

In high-volume equipment, that can cut assembly steps. Fewer screws, fewer separate brackets and screens, more snap-in parts. Maintenance teams will notice that covers and trays simply lift out smoothly instead of dragging on metal edges or rattling over time.

Use cases from conveyors to lab gear

Avient markets its Stat-Tech family for uses ranging from material-handling rollers and chutes to analytical instruments where dust attraction or stray discharge is a real risk. In those settings, a neutral-feeling plastic that quietly drains charge helps keep sensors stable.

For OEMs, the compound matters most where plastic parts move or slide: guide rails, carriers, test sockets. There, consistent static control can reduce false rejects on automated lines and extend the life of delicate electronic assemblies passing through.

Pricing, availability and stock context

Stat-Tech 31 FR is offered as a specialty compound through Avient’s engineered materials distribution, typically priced in the premium bracket above commodity flame-retardant resins and sold globally via direct sales and selected distributors. European buyers usually source through Avient’s regional technical centers.

Avient Corporation (ISIN US73179P1066) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, where its shares most recently traded in US dollars.

This article was AI-assisted and editorially reviewed. Product information without guarantee; prices and availability may change at short notice. No investment advice, no buy or sell recommendation. Stock-market transactions involve risks up to total loss.