SUSTAINABILITY | DESIGN


In another footwear development, BASF has launched the “Empowering Movement” brand strategy for Infinergy, its expanded thermoplastic polyurethane (E-TPU) which has been used in Adidas Boost shoes and other sports applications. A state-of-the-art virtual showroom showcases Infinergy’s diverse applications and properties, the group says.


Jens Dierssen, Global Business Management for


Infinergy, says: “Through the ‘Empowering Move- ment’ strategy, we want to connect with brands and their customers, and spark an engaging dialogue on how Infinergy can help unlock design potential.” The virtual showroom highlights projects with


key partners and customers, such as Maincal, the South American brand, for the launch of a new addition to its Voran line of safety shoes. The Voran SportSafe shoe series enables safety footwear users to move and work in comfort with “all day compression technology”, says BASF. In addition to Infinergy E-TPU in the midsole, the SportSafe shoe uses BASF’s Elastopan TPU in the Ultragrip Sole technology, which provides greater adhesion and resistance to sliding on demand- ing surfaces. Covestro, another


urethanes producer, has recently highlighted footwear innovations that involve their materials. It has worked with Plama-pur in Slovenia on a concept in which the transparent TPU film on the toe of the shoe is produced from its Cardyon feedstock with content derived from CO2. The CO2-based precursor is also found in concept sneakers designed by Chinese shoe designer Axis Liu, which Covestro showed at K2019. Here, it is used in a thin, translucent film made of Desmopan 37385A TPU grade, which matches the colour and structure of the upper material. In concept projects with Brazilian footwear manufacturer Calçados Beira Rio, Covestro has explored the use of materials derived from biomass and plastic waste as well as CO2. Two different types of TPU are found in the outer soles of the women’s shoe concepts. One of them is based on Cardyon, while in the other, 60% of the carbon content is derived from biomass. As a result, both products have a lower CO2 footprint than fossil-based TPU, says Covestro. Co-development between materials groups and


shoe brands is not just about TPU and foam components, as shown in another example of Covestro’s customer collaborations. Anta Sports Products in China designed the KT6 shoe with a


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carbon fibre shank made with Covestro’s Maezio thermoplastic composites for midfoot support and heel-to-toe transition. “The excellent properties of carbon fibre composites can significantly improve the torsional stiffness of basketball shoes and help smooth the transition from heel to toe,” says Anson Zheng, Senior Director of Anta’s basketball category and designer of the KT6. TPE producer Teknor Apex has also worked


with Anta on a midsole application for which it made a custom-formulated elastomer. The midsole achieves a rebound of 70% thanks to the Monprene TPE custom compound. The material is a 60 Shore A TPE that provides wrinkle resistance, low compression set, tear resistance, and kink resist- ance, says Teknor Apex. It also exhibits “excellent” elasticity and remains flexible at low temperatures.


CLICK ON THE LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION: � www.on-running.com � www.arkema.com � www.salomon.com � www.footwearology.com � https://project.veja-store.com � www.vivobarefoot.com � www.desma.de � www.newbalance.com � www.peaksportsusa.com � www.evonik.com � www.dsm.com � https://emeraldkalama.com � www.huntsman.com � www.xeniamaterials.com � www.basf.com � www.covestro.com � www.teknorapex.com � www.structur3d.io


March 2021 | INJECTION WORLD 19


Above: Image shows where BASF’s Infinergy expanded TPU and other PU materials are used in Maincal’s Voran SportSafe shoe


Left: Covestro has been working on shoe concepts with a variety of footwear partners


IMAGE: COVESTRO


IMAGE: BASF


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