When TPE and TPR are used in ordinary toys, sports equipment, etc., they not only feature such properties of rubber as high elasticity, high tensile strength and high resilience, but also possess the characteristics of injection molding materials. They have a wide range of applications, being environmentally friendly, non-toxic, excellent colorability, soft touch and weather resistance. They feature superior processing performances without vulcanization, can be recycled to reduce costs, ideal for double-shot injection molding and bonding with PP, PE, PC, PS, ABS and other substrates, and can also be molded individually.
1. Can TPE be used to replace PVC perfectly?
As compared with PVC, TPE does not contain halogen, plasticizers and heavy metals, and is environmentally friendly and non-toxic. In comparison, TPE has better characteristics than PVC in excellent low temperature resistance; soft, comfortable and smooth touchability; excellent wear resistance and skid resistance. These features are likely to convince people that TPE can be used to replace PVC perfectly. However, PVC can be used in some industrial applications that do not require higher environmental testing requirements, such as non-drinking water pipes, non-edible packaging bags, etc., and PVC is cheaper than TPE.
2. Is material totally to blame for inferior TPE bonding in double-shot injection?
Double-shot injection is an important application of TPE, but there is a common occurrence of inferior TPE bonding in this process. Naturally, poor bonding in double-shot injection may be caused by raw material, but it may also be the result of inappropriate temperature during the injection molding process. It is temperature setting, mold designs and product structures that are the factors to consider when performing double-shot injection with different TPE materials and different plastic materials with different hardness.