Thermoplastic Elastomers
Ushering in better elastomer days Since the introduction of thermoplastic elastomers or TPEs in the 1950s, the materials have been continuously transforming. Today, TPEs cover more applications and uses, thus enabling the material to edge out polymers like PVC and rubbers.
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ew advanced materials replacing traditional ones are becoming the norm for industry sectors that lean towards continuous innovations. The medical, automotive, and consumer goods industries are just a few of the segments that leverage on innovation as demand increases and more applications emerge. As such, conventional thermoplastics and elastomers, for example, are being superseded by thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs). Consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, in its US TPE market report, found that TPEs have become a viable replacement of thermoset rubber. Since TPEs are easier to process, allow greater design flexibility, and are easier to recycle, they are favoured over thermoset rubber as well as PVCs. According to research conducted by Markets and Markets, the TPE sector is valued to reach US$23.9 billion by 2018, with the Asia Pacific region in the lead. The growth will be a result of the many advantages of TPEs, such as weather, chemical and oxidation resistance and delivering soft touch feel as well as the ability to cater to a diverse range of applications. PVC substitutes TPEs are currently taking over conventional materials, such as PVC, in a variety of applications, says another research company Visiongain. A significant growth in the medical TPE market is expected in the coming years as demand for non-latex or PVC-free alternatives increases, says Visiongain. TPE, being cost effective, is also becoming a preferred option to silicones. Vincent Medical Meanwhile, Markets and Markets reveals that natural and switched synthetic rubber will see competition from TPEs owing to the latter’s from PVC to ability to form various shapes and complex designs, adhering to many Teknor Apex’s conventional and innovative processability techniques. TPE in this Moreover, as PVC use is weakened by findings that this material anaesthesia device has hazardous chemical traces, TPEs environment-friendly reputation contributes largely to its growth. US firm Teknor Apex, which also markets medical-grade PVC, supplied its Medalist MD-585 TPE compound in response to the decision of China-based OEM Vincent Medical to find an alternative to PVC for a gas sampling tube. The extruded item is a component of an anesthesia delivery and monitoring assembly through which the desired ratio of gases are sampled, measured, and delivered to the patient. The challenge in making the switch was to match or exceed PVC performance in extrusion, assembly, and clinical handling, noted Otto To, General Manager of Vincent Medical. Teknor Apex says the switch from PVC to TPE posed a challenge to traditional methods of bonding tubing to connectors, for example, and it collaborated with Vincent Medical at its Dongguan plant to develop a connector solution. The Medalist MD-585 compound is part of the MD-500 series of elastomers, which Teknor Apex developed to be the first fully practical alternative to PVC in medical tubing.
Teknor Apex’s Sarlink ME-2600 compounds are being evaluated for rear side window encapsulation uses in 2016 vehicle models to be built in the US
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SEPTEMBER 2014
Catering to injection moulding Italian elastomers producer Softer Group has introduced a TPE suited to extruding tubing for drinking water. Laprene 830.556 is plasticiser-free with high transparency and flexibility, the company says. Its smoothness and slippery surface help purge dirt and impurities that can be present in piped water. It also has antibacterial protection to inhibit growth of biofilms and bacteria. Softer says the new product is available in an injection moulding grade that could be applied in the production of flexible tubes for appliances such as dishwashers and water dispensers, or in plumbing. The TPE adheres to PP for overmoulding uses. Teknor Apex says that its new Sarlink ME-2600 series of styrenic thermoplastic elastomer (TPE-S) injection moulding compounds provides