MATERIALS | THERMOPLASTIC ELASTOMERS
Right:
Menstrual cups in TPE made by Zylog
applications like these,” says Tomasz Nowinski, General Manager of USP de Mexico. Herbst says USP’s Unisoft Special and Medical
Series grades are highly suitable for masks and shields because they provide excellent elasticity, strong recovery properties, and tear resistance. Several million face shields have been made using USP materials for the straps. USP, founded by Herbst in 2005 following a
period at Kraiburg that saw him rise to President and CEO of its US operations, now has two plants in the US; Herbst is mulling a third outside the country. The company has developed some 4,500 grades based on a wide range of chemistries. Hexpol TPE says the upsurge in Covid-related demand has led to an increasing need for translucent and transparent TPE materials for use in various kinds of face masks. Customers are looking for soft-touch materials with high levels of transparency that can be sterilized using various methods (see more on Hexpol TPE’s work in the medical sector in the Injection World January 2021 medical feature).
Lower costs Zylog, India’s oldest TPE company, says the Indian government’s Make in India focus and the need to reduce dependency on imports is driving develop- ments of new applications. “We worked very closely with a medical device customer and tool maker to locally develop a menstrual cup for domestic and export markets,” says company director Aschak Damani. Silicone thermosets are a dominant material in
Below: TPEs can be critical in medical syringes
this market, Damani says. “However, considering the need for lower cost for reaching the masses, while not compromising on health and safety of the user, the need was to develop the right TPE compound for injection moulding these cups, at a final component cost point of less than US$0.50. The challenge was to meet biocompatibility, re-use
Typical Properties Density (g/cm3 Shore Hardness
)
100% Modulus (MPa) Tensile Strength (MPa) Elongation (%)
Tension Set - 300 (%) Compression Set (%)
Selected properties of Neoflex 8140 SBC-based compound from Zylog
durability, non-latex materials, recyclability at end of life, very high resiliency, very low compression set and non-deformation/shape retention over extended use, even during disinfection in boiling water.” Zylog developed a low hardness medical TPE
grade based on an SBC, providing, Damani says, excellent resiliency and compression set proper- ties, while meeting all performance criteria and complying to US FDA CFR 21, EU Regulation 10/2011, EN 71/3, RoHS and REACH requirements. “The formulation is designed to meet high produc- tivity and throughput on multi-cavity injection moulding tooling, while providing a non-tacky, translucent, smooth feeling component.” Zylog, which also manufactures sheets, skins and
laminates based on TPEs and TPOs, and is further forward integrated into thermoformed parts and components, exports across Asia, Middle East, and Africa. Kraiburg TPE, too, has recently witnessed an
increased demand for extremely soft compounds, but not only for medical applications. “With focus applications such as cycling equipment, orthosis, fishing baits and wheelchair cushions in mind, we decided to upgrade the already existing tested and approved Supersoft TPE and introduce a series of new compounds, all fit for current and future
14 INJECTION WORLD | May 2021
www.injectionworld.com
Neoflex 8140 0.90 43 A 1.0 8.0
900 20 28
IMAGE: HEXPOL TPE
IMAGE: ZYLOG
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