Celebrating 134 years of service to the world-wide rubber industry
Thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) is one of the fastest growing commercial roofing systems on the market. Developed in Europe in the 1970s, TPO was introduced to the U.S. market in the late 1980s and has become the dominant installed roof system in the industry; now used on 53% of commercial roofs, according to the American Institute of Architects.
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Septon BIO-series styrenic elastomer contains a monomer derived from renewable resources.
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Overmolding TPEs based on styrene block copolymers offer significant adhesion to polar substrates.
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A rheology approach was used to analyze the elastic recovery and processability of hydrogenated styrenic block copolymers (SEBS) and SEBS/polypropylene/oil blends.
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Bonding thermoplastic elastomers to polar and non-polar substrates has been widely studied in the past few decades to create products that enhance ergonomic comfort and functionality. Overmolding a TPE compared to two-shot molding is a litmus test for bonding the material to the substrate. The TPE must wet the cold surface and must melt a few nanometers of the surface of the substrate that is being overmolded on to facilitate bonding.
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Preformed membranes are primarily made from EPDM, PVC, TPO, HDPE, atactic PP, SBS and modified bitumin, etc. The focus of this article is TPO membranes, which are extensively used for exposed roof waterproofing and heat insulation. First introduced in Europe in the early 1990s, TPO membranes were developed as an alternative to PVC to overcome issues around plasticizer migration and membrane integrity breakdown, resulting in wash away and chemical contamination, as well as mold growth affected by weathering over the years; and finally culminating in cracking and leakages. TPOs have since become very popular due to their durability, UV and heat resistance, energy efficiency, as well as cost-effectiveness.
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Fumed silica is widely used as a reinforcement additive in silicone elastomers with significant mechanical property benefits, namely increased tensile strength, elongation and tear strength, among others. However, the use of fumed silica in thermoplastics is limited because of the difficulty to effectively add them via melt compounding by an extruder. Fumed silicas are extremely light; they have a bulk density of about 50 to 100 g/l. Thus, feeding this low density powder into the extruder, as well as conveying and mixing it with a viscous polymer melt, presents a challenge in typical plastics compounding operations.
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Thermoplastic tapes are expected to achieve great things, namely to shape the next generation of thermoplastic composites. This calls for highly accurate tape stacking. At the same time, tape processing must not become so complex that it becomes uneconomical. Engel contributes this technology to achieve a breakthrough by combining high precision control software with camera technology in tape stacking.
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In modern cars, the space for the engine compartment is continuously shrinking for both functional and aesthetic reasons. Increasing vehicle compactness by reducing the space available for design engineers results in hotter engine components which restrict the rubber materials that can be used. This has boosted a fast growing demand in the rubber industry for elastomer parts with durability and increased resistance to temperature extremes. Among elastomers, silicone elastomers and fluoroelastomers show very effective heat resistance resulting from the strong Si-O and C-F bonds present in their chemical structure. However, the main drawbacks are their high price and high processing cost that make compounding, molding and final production very expensive
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Total Cray Valley is expanding its hydroxyl-terminated diene resin portfolio with the industrial introduction of sustainably sourced farnesene-based resins, Krasol F3000 and Krasol F3100. The Krasol product line is known in the market as a source of well-defined hydroxyl-terminated liquid poly(butadiene) diol and monol grades. These materials are used in a variety of end-use applications as components in urethane, epoxy and UV-cured adhesive and sealant formulations for the automotive and electronic markets. The diene backbone incorporates hydrophobic quality and chemical resistance, as well as elastomeric softness and low-temperature performance.
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