WEB EXCLUSIVE: Sporty new Pheos safety glasses from Germany’s Uvex feature earpieces made with a soft-touch Thermolast K styrenic TPE compound from Kraiburg TPE GmbH (U.S. office in Duluth, Ga.).

WEB EXCLUSIVE: A two-component, injection molded resealable closure for infusion bags has been developed by Bolivia’s Matriplast SA using a special TPE from Kraiburg TPE in Germany (U.S. office in Duluth, Ga.). Matriplast specializes in plastic containers and products for the pharmaceutical industry and is also now aiming to produce high-end products such as the new ASEPTIcap closure.

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Kraiburg TPE Corp., Duluth, Ga., has come out with two new families of styrenic TPEs for overmolding onto rigid engineering thermoplastics for consumer electronics applications.

Higher-performance and easier processing PE film resins for packaging, a one-pass crosslinked PE for photovoltaic (PV) wire and cable, several higher-performing nylons and TPEs, “greener” plastics, and enhanced styrenic and PC resins are among the new materials that made their debut at the big show in Orlando, Fla., last month.

Bioplastics take center stage.

WEB EXCLUSIVE: New Thermolast W grades of SEBS-based TPEs are said to offer exceptionally firm grip, even when wet. “Ground-breaking” Wet Grip technology from Kraiburg TPE, Duluth, Ga., boasts up to three times the coefficient of friction of conventional SBS TPEs and TPVs for both wet and dry applications with no negative impact on physical properties or processability in multi-component injection molding or extrusion.

Last fall’s K 2010 fair in Germany drew dozens of materials suppliers to show off hundreds of new products, aimed especially at packaging,medical, automotive, and electrical/electronics.

The K 2010 show will present new plastics materials for a wide range of industries, which makes it hard to generalize, but a few markets stand out prominently: packaging, medical, automotive, and electronic equipment.

This first of two articles on directions in TPE development focuses on styrenic, copolyester, polyamide, and TP urethane elastomers. The following article covers olefinics—TPOs, TPVs, and POEs.

The major thrust in new materials at K is engineering thermoplastics for automotive, appliance, medical, and electrical/electronic parts.

A new type of TPV elastomers offers heat resistance up to 140 C for automotive and industrial applications such as window encapsulation, grommets and spouts for cable or hoses, air ducts, gaskets, and sealing profiles.

 Higher flow, higher heat, higher barrier, higher clarity, higher stiffness, lower durometer, lower smoke, lower odor—materials exhibits at the recent K 2004 show in Dusseldorf were stretching the bounds of processing and performance properties in all directions.

 Formulating thermoplastic elastomers is a highly customized business.

Kraton Polymers has launched a new styrene-ethylene-butadiene-styrene (SEBS) elastomer family that delivers better flow, lower warpage, and greater adhesion to other thermoplastics.

New materials at K 2001 are weighted heavily toward the engineering variety, especially nylons, acetals, and TP polyesters. A large handful of polypropylenes round out the major news.