A Tougher, Better, More Abrasion, VOCs and Solvent Resistant Family of TPUs and TPEs
PriPro's X-Link® TPUs and TPEs
X-Link Urethanes can be compounded as Ether or Ester TPUs and come in hardness measurements of 65-A to 80-D
durometer. These X-Link TPUs are true thermoplastics that can be injection molded using conventional plastic processing
equipment.
While all X-Link TPUs need to be post-cured between 180 F° to 250 F° for 6 to 12 hours to achieve full mechanical
properties, because these are true thermoplastics, most of the material waste from processing before the finished
components are post-cured can be recycled back into the process. In addition, some TPEs may not need to be post-cured depending on the application. This X-Link technology also works for glass and carbon fiber-filled TPU and TPE composites like nylon, etc. Almost all thermoplastic TPU and TPE materials can be cross linked using this X-Link technology.
The table below highlights the ASTM properties of three common commercially available TPUs being processed today for industrial and commercial applications and PriPro’s X-Link Equivalent TPUs.
As the data shows, PriPro’s X-Link Equivalent TPUs can significantly increase Taber Abrasion, Compression Set and 300% Tensile Stress properties. The data also indicates ultimate elongation is decreased. This decrease in elongation and the increase in the other properties are due to polymer crosslinking formed in PriPro’s X-Link TPUs after post-curing. As the polymer crosslinking increases, the X-Link TPU or TPE materials become more tightly interconnected, resulting in higher heat deflection and abrasion resistance.
PriPro has also developed several in-house material tests to highlight the chemical and abrasion resistance of X-Link Equivalent TPUs. The table below shows the results of a three-day soak test in MEK and Acetone of a Huntsman’s Irogran 95A Ether material and PriPro’s X-Link Equivalent 95A Ether TPU (both test parts were post-cured). The dramatic increase in tensile strength and elongation over the control TPU again demonstrates the benefit of the polymer crosslinking of the X-Link Equivalent 95A Ether material.
Another test PriPro developed is an Ø5 inch Power Sand Disc Grinding Test (the “Power Sand Test”). This test demonstrates abrasion resistance more thoroughly than the standard ASTM Taber Abrasion test. Because the ASTM Taber Abrasion test only measures in Milligrams (mg) of material lost, it is not aggressive enough to highlight all the abrasion benefits of fully crosslinked TPUs and TPEs.
The Power Sand Test uses an Ø5.0 inch, 5 hole, 40 grit sanding disc rotating at 1000 RPM on a 1/8 x 6 x 6 inch center molded test plaque with 2.55 PSI of pressure for 60 seconds of contact time. A new sanding disc is used for each test.
The Power Sand Test shows the dramatic improvement of X-Link TPUs over four standard commercially available TPU materials in the marketplace today. All the control TPUs showed significantly greater weight loss than X-Link TPUs. This test not only demonstrates that X-Link TPUs show less abrasion, it also shows the superior heat deflection temperature (“HDT”) of the X-Link TPUs. Three out of the four control TPUs showed melting and burning of the plaques. Heat from the friction of sanding the plaques melted the control materials, causing the control materials to become gummy. This is not reflected in the percent increase over the control as the test focuses on abrasion only. However, the X-Link TPUs did not show any melting or burning. They consistently exhibited much less wear and higher heat deflection than the control TPUs, again demonstrating improvements gained by polymer crosslinking.