Innovation | TPEs TPEs today must deliver more than just a soft touch.
Suppliers are working hard to meet end-user demands in all performance areas, writes Peter Mapleston
Much more than a soft touch
The days when thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) were relevant only for simple design enhancements and a soft touch are long gone. These materials have now become established in a wide range of industrial and consumer applications with diverse demands—even if soft touch is still an important one. “Effi cient processing in multi-component injection moulding, excellent mechanical properties – also at high temperatures – and low weight make TPEs an interesting material,” says one supplier. Thermoplastic vulcanizates, or TPVs, are now among
the most common TPEs. Produced in most cases by dynamic vulcanisation of ethylene-propylene-diene monomer (EPDM) as it is compounded together with polypropylene in a twin-screw extruder, they are available from numerous compounders around the world, and the diversity is increasing. Enplast last year launched the EZPrene fully
vulcanized TPVs to complement its Enfl ex general- purpose partially vulcanized types. There are currently nine materials in the series, ranging in hardness from 55 Shore A to 50 Shore D. Enplast, part of the Ravago group, has production operations at its headquarters
www.injectionworld.com
location in Turkey and in Texas, US. The company says EZPrene grades employ a proprietary cure technology that makes possible production of soft-touch surfaces in bright colors. The company also highlights the fact that EZPrene
grades are non-hygroscopic. “Processors who are not equipped for the extensive drying that is normal with traditional thermoplastic rubber compounds will fi nd that EZPrene materials will run readily on conventional equipment,” says Synco de Vogel, marketing and sales manager. The new grades are said to be comparable to
conventional TPVs in terms of strength and elasticity. “On two critical counts, though, they outperform other thermoplastic rubber products that are specially designed to accommodate colours and eliminate pre-drying,” de Vogel says. EZPrene grades are also claimed to show greater resistance to oil swell, and are said to exhibit better resistance to compression set. Another important TPE compounder, Kraiburg TPE, says that the Thermolast V range of TPVs it developed specifi cally for automotive applications is increasingly popular. Typical uses for the materials include seals,
Above: New
start-up Gobie H2O is using a Versafl ex TPE from PolyOne GLS on its range of refi llable
fi ltered water bottles to help stand out from its more
established competitors
April 2014 | INJECTION WORLD 17
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