Once again the Smithers RAPRA organization set-up the annual conference on Thermoplastics Elastomers (TPE 2012), which took place this year in Berlin, Germany, on November 13 & 14th, 2012. Once again it was an exciting two-days conference fully dedicated to TPE, offering the ideal opportunity to material suppliers and TPE experts to highlight their innovations and expectations for the coming years.
As forecasted by Smithers RAPRA Market Reports Teams1 the global TPE market will reach 28.1 million tons this year, and should grow at a strong AGR (annual growth rate) of 18.5% until 2017, where it will be a 33.3 million tons market. Natural Rubber (NR) and Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR) are still by far the main Elastomers used in the world, but many other new comers entered the market these past years, and keep on strengthening the global TPE offer and solutions.
Arkema presented its Rilsan® HT, the so-claimed only flexible PPA-based elastomer in the world. Thanks to the high heat resistance of PPA combined with the flexibility of its unique compound formulation Arkema was proud to announce during the TPE 2012 conference its first commercial successes in the automotive industry with under the hood parts on Peugeot cars.
Kraiburg highlighted its highest performing TPE products, Hipex®, featuring a no less than 150°C heat resistance in continuous uses. Such high temperature applications previously required cross-linking of the elastomers used, which in turns is detrimental to recyclability.
Teknor Apex detailed what the automotive industry is all about when it deals with TPE. Thanks to...