Polycarbonate products offer a great blend of helpful features including temperature resistance, impact resistance and optical properties position polycarbonates in between commodity plastic materials and engineering plastics.
Polycarbonate is definitely a high quality material. Even though it offers very high impact-resistance, it has got low scratch-resistance and so a hard coating typically is applied to polycarbonate eyeglasses and polycarbonate exterior auto equipment. The properties relating to polycarbonate are along the lines of those of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA, acrylic), although polycarbonate is definitely stronger, it is usable in a wider temperature range and is a bit more expensive. This plastic polymer is highly transparent to visible light and it has better light transmission characteristics than most grades of glass.
Polycarbonate carries a glass transition temperature of about 150 °C (302 °F), as a result it softens gradually above this point and flows above about 300°C (572 °F). Tools need to be held at warm to high temperatures, generally above 80 °C (176 °F) to produce strain- and stress-free products.
Unlike many thermoplastics, polycarbonate can undergo massive deformations without breaking. Hence, it may be processed and formed  without needing to be heated using sheet metal techniques, for instance forming bends with a brake. Even for sharp angle bends with a tight radius, no heating is usually necessary. This makes it valuable in prototyping applications where transparent or electrically non-conductive parts are important, which should not be produced from sheet metal. Remember that PMMA/Plexiglas, that is similar in appearance to polycarbonate, but is brittle and can’t be bent unless it is heated.
The light weight of polycarbonate, unlike glass, has led to development of electronic display screens that replace glass materials with polycarbonate, for use in mobile and portable devices. Such displays include newer e-ink and several LCD screens, though CRT, plasma screen and other LCD technologies generally still require glass for its higher melting temperature and its ability to be etched in finer detail.
Other kinds of items manufactured from Polycarbonate include durable, lightweight luggage, MP3/digital audio player cases, computer cases, riot shields, instrument panels, and blender jars. Many toys and hobby products are produced from polycarbonate parts, e.g. fins, gyro mounts, and flybar locks for use with radio-controlled helicopters.
For use in applications subjected to weathering or UV-radiation, a special surface treatment could be needed. This either can be a coating (e.g. for improved abrasion resistance), or perhaps the coextrusion for enhanced weathering resistance.
The Makrolon Polycarbonate is a thermoplastic that at the beginning, starts as a solid material in the form of small pellets. In a manufacturing process called injection molding, the pelletized resin is heated until they melt in to a thick liquid. The melted liquid polycarbonate is then rapidly pushed into a mold with the empty part being the size and shape of the part you want, compressed under high pressure and cooled to create a finished product in a matter of minutes.