Editing Keycap material (section)

==PBT==
PBT (short for "polybutylene terephthalate") is one of the hardest, most durable materials for keycaps. It is more resilient against heat and chemicals than ABS, but its properties also make it more difficult to mould, which makes it more uncommon.

Legends on PBT keys are often laser-etched or [[Keycap printing#Dye Sublimation|dye-sublimated]] but only very rarely [[Double-shot molding|double shot moulded]].
Because of shrinkage during demoulding, PBT is also rarely used for the largest key, the [[space bar]], with a notable exception being [[Cherry Corp.|Cherry]].

PBT does not turn yellow from exposure to ultraviolet light like ABS does. The resilience against heat makes it a good candidate for dyeing in a hot dye bath.

PBT keys are found on the [[IBM Model M]], many vintage [[Macintosh|Apple Macintosh]] keyboards, NMB [[Hi-Tek Series 725|"Space Invader"]]-switch keyboards, [[Topre Realforce]] keyboards (not RGB) and on all contemporary grey and some vintage beige/grey [[Cherry Keyboards|keyboards from Cherry]] in the G80 and G81 series.

[[Leopold]] has also made keyboards and keycap sets with them, with pad-printed or double-shot legends. Some modern gaming keyboards also come with PBT keycaps, but they are considered a premium feature and is not the norm.

[[Gateron]] manufactures PBT keycap sets in [[Keyboard_profile#Cherry|Cherry profile]], sold dye-sublimate printed under the ''EnjoyPBT'' brand.