What are the advantages and disadvantages of TPE / TPR?

Thermoplastic elastomer TPE / TPR, also known as artificial rubber or synthetic rubber. Its products not only have the excellent properties of high elasticity, aging resistance and oil resistance of traditional cross-linked vulcanized rubber, but also have the characteristics of convenient processing and wide processing methods of ordinary plastics. It can be produced by injection molding, extrusion, blow molding and other processing methods, and 100% of the nozzle corners can be directly reused after crushing. It not only simplifies the processing process, but also reduces the processing cost. Therefore, thermoplastic elastomer TPE / TPR material has become the latest material to replace traditional rubber. It is environmentally friendly, non-toxic, comfortable to handle and exquisite in appearance, making the product more creative. Therefore, it is also a new type of synthetic material with more humanization and high grade, and it is also a worldwide standard environmental protection material.

It is environment-friendly, non-toxic and safe, has a wide range of hardness, has excellent coloring, soft touch, weather resistance, fatigue resistance and temperature resistance, has superior processing performance, does not need vulcanization, and can be recycled to reduce cost. It can be used for secondary injection molding, coated and bonded with PP, PE, PC, PS, ABS and other matrix materials, or formed separately.

Some friends will say that TPE is also TPR, which is confused with TPR. TPE is a material blended and modified with SEBS as substrate, and the material modified with SBS substrate is called TPR. It is only slightly different in terms of name. In Hong Kong and Taiwan, most people like to call it TPR, and in the mainland, most people like to call it TPE. In fact, TPE and TPR are just different names for thermoplastic elastomer materials.

Since Bayer company first prepared thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) in 1958, TPE has developed rapidly. Especially after the advent of styrene thermoplastic elastomer in 1963, the preparation theory of thermoplastic elastomer has been gradually improved and the application field has been further expanded.

Advantages of TPE materials:

1. It can be recycled and effectively save energy. It is an ideal material to replace rubber and silica gel.

2. Energy saving. Most thermoplastic elastomers do not need vulcanization or the vulcanization time is very short, the production efficiency is greatly improved and the forming cycle is short.

3. Environmental protection, non-toxic and safe, with excellent coloring and soft touch. TPE materials do not introduce heavy metals and toxic phthalate plasticizers in the production process, which comply with ROHS, reach, EN71, PAHs and FDA environmental protection tests. It is a good material to replace PVC.

4. The properties are relatively stable, with good temperature resistance (service temperature range - 50-100 ℃), aging resistance, chemical resistance and solvent resistance. Superior processing performance.

5. It can be secondary injection molding, coated and bonded with PP, PE, PC, PS, ABS and other matrix materials, or formed separately.

6. It has the characteristics of high elasticity of rubber and injection molding.

Disadvantages of TPE materials:

The heat resistance of TPE is not as good as that of rubber, and the physical properties decrease greatly with the increase of temperature, so the scope of application is limited. At the same time, compression deformation, resilience and durability are worse than those of rubber, and the price is often higher than that of similar rubber. However, in general, the advantages of TPE are still very prominent, while the disadvantages are constantly improving. As a new energy-saving and environmental friendly rubber raw material, TPE has a promising development prospect.

The above is what material TPE is? As well as a brief introduction of its advantages and disadvantages, TPE has a wide range of applications, including wire and cable industry, automobile industry, toy industry, medical equipment industry, road field, shoe material industry, sports equipment industry, consumer durable goods, home appliance industry, packaging industry, coating industry, abnormal materials, sealing field, etc.

Thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) is a new polymer material between rubber and resin. It can not only replace some rubber, but also modify plastics. Thermoplastic elastomer has the dual properties and broad characteristics of rubber and plastic, which makes it widely used in the rubber industry to manufacture rubber shoes, tape and other daily products, as well as various industrial products such as rubber hose, tape, rubber strip, rubber plate, rubber parts and adhesives.