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This post was last edited by I am kind on 2020-7-9 at 18:01. It has been one year since the commercial deployment of 5G services began in June 2019. According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China built 130,000 5G base stations in 2019; by the end of 2020, the number of such base stations is expected to exceed 600,000, covering all cities at the prefecture level and above across the country. In the entire construction of 5G networks, base station equipment is the most widely used component, and antenna enclosures, as an important part of 5G base stations, represent a huge market opportunity. Antenna systems are usually installed in outdoor environments and are exposed directly to natural elements such as wind, snow, dust, and solar radiation. The function of an antenna cover is to protect the antenna system from these external influences, thereby ensuring its operational accuracy, service life, and reliability. Therefore, the radome material needs to meet the requirements of being lightweight and high-strength, weather-resistant, having good processability, and excellent dielectric properties. In the 5G era, base stations employ large-scale array antennas, which increases the number of antenna channels. This in turn raises the demand for RF components. Moreover, the passive parts of the antennas are combined with RRU to form AAUs, placing greater demands on minimizing the size and weight of 5G antennas. At the same time, 5G millimeter waves feature high-frequency and high-speed data transmission, but also suffer from poor penetration and high attenuation. Therefore, 5G radomes place higher demands on the dielectric properties of materials as well as on lightweight design. In response to this, material manufacturers have developed antenna cover materials such as ASA, PPGF, and PC – materials that offer high cost-effectiveness, are environmentally friendly, lightweight, and feature low dielectric constants and low losses due to enhanced modifications. In addition to the materials mentioned above, another material that can be used for 5G radomes is the new polypropylene microporous foam material MPP. I. Application of Microcellular Polypropylene foam MPP in antenna covers. Microcellular Polypropylene foam (abbreviated as MPP) refers to polypropylene porous foam materials whose cell sizes are less than 100 micrometers (more precisely, cell sizes less than 10 micrometers with a cell density of more than 10 to the power of 9 cells/cm3). Since Professor Nam.P.Suh and others at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States first proposed the concept of polymer microporous foaming in the early 1980s, it has remained a focus of research in this field due to the broad potential applications of MPP. II. MPP microporous foam material molding technology: The molding of MPP requires upgrading conventional polymer processing equipment (such as injection molding machines, continuous extrusion molding machines, and compression molding machines) to make them suitable for supercritical fluid technology. Under high temperature and pressure, supercritical carbon dioxide or supercritical nitrogen is introduced into polypropylene material to form a single-phase solution of polypropylene/supercritical fluid, thereby inducing bubble nucleation and growth, and ultimately resulting in PP foamed material with bubble sizes on the micron scale. III. Characteristics of MPP microcellular foam material: The dielectric constant of MPP material can be as low as 1.02, and it is possible to adjust this dielectric constant. Material properties: Light weight with high strength – the density of this material ranges from 100 to 30 Kg/m3. Its fine and uniform cell structure confers excellent mechanical properties on MPP, giving it high strength and rigidity, as well as the ability to withstand winds of force level 16 ； High-temperature resistance: Can be used at temperatures up to 110℃ ； Low dielectric constant, low loss: high foaming ratio with a large amount of air inside; its dielectric constant is much lower than that of ABS and fiberglass ； No chemical residues: No chemical foaming agents are used in the production process, resulting in no residual chemicals ； Eco-friendly and recyclable: The foaming process is clean and pollution-free, resulting in products that are hygienic and environmentally friendly. No cross-linking occurs during the foaming process, allowing it to be recycled ； Resistant to photo-oxidation; service life of up to 10 years ； It has a skin-like surface, does not absorb water, does not retain water on its surface, offers good stain resistance, and does not affect wave transmission properties. In other words, MPP materials possess properties such as light weight and high strength, low dielectric constant and low loss, good wave transmission capabilities, weather resistance, and environmental friendliness; these characteristics make them suitable for use in 5G antenna covers. They are currently being used on a large scale in the construction of 5G base stations. IV. Relevant material companies 1. Official website of Zhejiang Xinhengtai New Materials Co., Ltd.: https://www.zjht-hmm.com/ Founded in August 2008, Zhejiang Xinhengtai New Materials Co., Ltd. is a large-scale enterprise in China specialized in the research, development, manufacturing, and sales of cleaning foaming materials made from IXPE, TPE, EVA, PE, PP, and TPU. These materials are widely used in various fields such as children’s toys, sports equipment, luggage, shoe materials, electronics, and packaging. In November 2018, the acquisition of MT Peryferia i Dodatki Sp. z o.o. was completed; the materials produced by this company are primarily used in high-end fields such as foam sheets, aerospace applications, 5G antenna covers, and components for new energy batteries. 2. Official website of Suzhou Shincell New Materials Co., Ltd.: http://www.shincell.com.cn/ Suzhou Shincell New Materials Co., Ltd. was established in March 2019; it focuses on the research, development, and production of high-performance, lightweight polymer foam materials that are environmentally friendly. Its products are mainly divided into rigid, high-strength foam materials and soft, highly elastic foam materials. Rigid, high-strength foam materials mainly include microporous polypropylene (M-PP) and polyvinylidene fluoride foam materials (M-PVDF). Soft, highly elastic foam materials primarily consist of thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers (M-TPU), thermoplastic polyester elastomer foam materials (M-TPEE), and thermoplastic polyamide foam materials (M-PEBAX), among others. These products are widely used in fields such as 5G, new energy, healthcare, packaging, sports and leisure, as well as children’s products. 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