What is a Heavy Duty NFC Token?
A heavy duty Near Field Communication (NFC) token is a physically robust NFC tag designed to withstand harsh environments, including exposure to chemicals and water immersion. These tokens house NFC chips and copper antennas within fully sealed Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), Polycarbonate (PC), or Polyphenylene Sulfide (PPS) shells. They often contain ferrite layers for metal surface compatibility along with mounting holes or adhesive backing. The fully sealed construction of heavy duty tokens provides superior protection against moisture, dust, and physical damage. PVC tokens, offer a thinner profile at a lower cost but do not provide the same level of durability.
Heavy duty NFC tokens function as digital identifiers for physical assets in harsh environments, enabling contactless tracking and data exchange. They are used across manufacturing, energy, construction, transportation, agriculture, maritime, defense, and waste management industries where durability against rough handling, chemicals, and adverse weather is essential.
How to Choose a Heavy Duty NFC Token
- Material: ABS and PC shells sealed with ultrasonic welding are IP67 rated; injection molding and epoxy filling increases the rating to IP68. PPS shells have superior chemical and heat resistance. 3M 467 is the default for adhesive backing; GoToTags does not offer specialized adhesives, but tokens can be purchased without adhesive for custom applications.
- Mounting Options: Most heavy duty NFC tokens have a straight or countersunk center hole. 3M 467 adhesive serves as standard backing for adhesive-backed tokens, with other 3M adhesives available by special order.
- Availability: Black PC on-metal tokens (30 mm circle with 3 mm ⌀ or 5 mm ⌀ countersunk holes) are stocked for immediate shipping. Black PPS laundry tokens are available in a selection of sizes for testing. Alternative colors require longer lead times and higher minimum order quantities. Non-listed sizes, hole configurations, and materials can be special ordered; new shapes incur mold fees.
- NFC Chip Type: Heavy duty NFC tokens utilize NXP NTAG213 and NXP NTAG216 and ST25TN01K chips. The NXP chips provide different memory capacities to accommodate various data storage requirements. The NTAG213 chip contains 144 bytes of user memory while NTAG216 contains 888 bytes. ST25TN01K chips provide enhanced security features and tamper detection capabilities.
Customizing a Heavy Duty NFC Token
- Shell Color: The standard color is black; white, red, yellow, green, and blue are available as special orders with MOQ, lead time, and cost variations dependent on stock availability.
- Customization: See Custom NFC Tokens for laser engraving or 1-2 color silkscreen printing of logos, text, or digits. Barcodes are generally discouraged due to limited space and shell materials not allowing for reliable scanning.
- Encoding: Tags can be pre-encoded by GoToTags during purchase or self-encoded later using the Desktop App.
Recommendations
- Use the token's mounting hole for a more secure attachment than relying solely on adhesive.
- Use PPS laundry tokens for immersion or high-temperature applications.
- Heavy duty tokens are not suitable for slim profile requirements.
- Ferrite/adhesive layers do not share the waterproof rating of the token and may separate over time.
- Test tokens with reading devices in target environments, particularly when using phones with protective cases.
