MATERIALS | THERMOPLASTIC ELASTOMERS
Right: Dryflex PCW TPE compounds are being used in applications such as
automotive sidesteps
impact; from where the raw materials are sourced, how our compounds are produced, packaged, transported and what happens at the end of a product’s life.” Recent additions to the Dryflex Green portfolio include adhesion compounds for multi-component applications. “In general, the Dryflex Green compounds show very good bonding behaviour to PE and PP,” says Dannäs. “We have also developed special grades for bonding to ABS, PET and PLA.” The bio route is also being trodden by Trinseo. ”With our Bio & Beyond initiative, we are focused on the development of a wide range of biomateri- als designed to reproduce current soft TPEs with bio-based and bio-degradable versions,” says a spokesperson for Trinseo. “These products are based on raw materials
from renewable natural sources and will contribute to a reduction in CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions as well as in fossil fuels usage, to a better agriculture resources efficiency and finally to the development of the depressed rural areas no longer suitable for foodstuff cultivation.” Trinseo has seen a growing demand for high- quality applications that require the combination of soft and rigid substrates. It says the over-moulding of soft TPEs and rigid plastics – Trinseo’s portfolio includes polycarbonates and various styrenics – “delivers genuine advantages for a product’s functional, visual, acoustic and tactile properties.” “Application areas range from automotive to consumer technologies to medical devices where we’re seeing a growing need for materials to enhance aesthetics, improve usability, and perform specific functions such as comfort handles, as in the case of a surgical instrument, or flexible grips to prevent slippage in electronics, or elastomers on hard surfaces to improve safety,” says the spokes- person. “Now we can offer a wide range of modi- fied thermoplastic elastomeric compounds, all providing exceptional adhesion to the most
Right: Swedish outdoor product
company Wildo used a Dryflex Green bio- based TPE compound for its famous Fold-A-Cup
common rigid plastic substrates.” At the beginning of May, polyamides specialist EMS-Grivory announced a cooperation with API-Trinseo, specifically aimed at the spectacles market where it says many applications call for a hard polyamide substrate to be over-moulded with a soft elastomer. The cooperation has two goals, says EMS-Grivo-
ry. The companies will initially offer products from the existing product portfolios of both companies which bond reliably and durably; second, during the cooperation work, new products will be developed and tailor-made to suit each other. “Both bio and crude oil based products with different shore hardness values will be developed and examined,” the company says.
More for medical Medical is also of increasing interest for com- pounder Teknor Apex. At the NPE2018 show in Florida, it introduced new Medalist medical-grade TPEs for injection moulded plunger stoppers, said to provide improved syringe performance while being less costly and easier to mould than natural and isoprene rubber and providing processing advantages over thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV) elastomers. Stoppers moulded in Medalist TPEs apparently perform well in both glass and plastic syringe barrels, achieving a consistent piston release and travel force due to a low coefficient of friction. The compounds can be over-moulded onto plungers. In addition to grades for over-moulding onto polypropylene, specialty grades are available for
46 INJECTION WORLD | May 2018
www.injectionworld.com
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