In the TPE elastomer industry, TPE is the abbreviation for all thermoplastic elastomers such as TPU, TPEE, TPV, TPO, etc. In a narrow sense, TPE is a styrene-based thermoplastic elastomer. TPU is known as thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer rubber. So, how do TPE, TPR and TPU compare with each other?

　　1、Weather resistance, TPV is better than TPE, TPE is better than TPU;

　　2, transparency, TPU is better than TPE, TPE is better than TPV, TPV in the market has not yet appeared transparent, but it is said that a large foreign company has developed such products;

　　3, wear resistance, TPU is better than TPV, TPV is better than TPE, there are also high wear-resistant TPE, but and TPU or a little gap;

　　4, specific gravity, the specific gravity of TPE varies greatly, from 0.89 to 1.3, TPV in about 0.98, TPU in 1.0 to 1.4 between;

　　5, acid and alkali resistance (weak acid and alkali), TPV is better than TPE, TPU is not acid and alkali resistance;

　　6、Oil resistance, TPU (good) is better than TPV (medium), TPE is not oil resistant;

　　7, temperature resistance, TPE is -60 degrees Celsius ~ 90 degrees Celsius, TPV is -60 degrees Celsius ~ 130 degrees Celsius, TPU is -60 degrees Celsius ~ 80 degrees Celsius.
TPE TPV TPU three belong to a large category, collectively known internationally as thermoplastic elastomer, the English abbreviation: TPE as for the usual TPE, is made of SEBS/SBS + PP + naphthenic oil + calcium carbonate + additives blend, also known as environmentally friendly soft plastics in the industry; TPV is EPDM as the main substrate of the elastomer, dynamic vulcanization; TPU, also known as polyurethane, there are polyester type and polyether type two.

　　Comparison of the performance of the three:

　　1、Transparency

　　TPU is better than TPE, TPE is better than TPV, TPV in the market has not yet appeared transparent, but it is said that a large foreign company has developed such products.

　　2、Weather resistance

　　TPV is better than TPE, TPE is better than TPU.

　　3、Specific gravity

　　The specific gravity of TPE varies greatly, from 0.89 to 1.3, TPV is around 0.98, TPU is between 1.0 and 1.4 (reference: the specific gravity of water is 1).

　　4、Abrasion resistance

　　TPU is better than TPV, TPV is better than TPE, there are also high wear-resistant TPE, but there is still a bit of a gap with TPU.

　　5、Oil resistance

　　TPU (good) better than TPV (medium), TPE is not oil-resistant.

　　6, acid and alkali resistance (weak acid and weak alkali)

　　TPV is better than TPE, TPU is not resistant to acid and alkali.

　　7、Temperature resistance

　　TPE is -60 degree Celsius ~ 90 degree Celsius, TPV is -60 degree Celsius ~ 130 degree Celsius, TPU is -60 degree Celsius ~ 80 degree Celsius.

　　Application range:

　　Application areas of TPU.

　　1、Automotive industry: Since TPU has good mechanical properties and is resistant to oil, grease, high and low temperature, elastic and wear resistant, it has been increasingly applied to the automotive industry, such as brake pipes, fuel pipes, emergency airbags, interior decoration parts, etc..

　　2, cable: TPU provides tear resistance, wear resistance and bending characteristics. Resistance to high and low temperatures is the key to the performance of the cable. In addition, chemical resistance, hydrolysis resistance and anti-microbial decomposition and easy to process and easy to dye, so high-grade cables such as control cables and power cables with TPU role to protect the design of complex cable cover material and increasingly widespread use;.

　　3, pipe: TPU in a wide range of temperatures with bending resistance to cracking, good memory, not easy to knot, easy to return to the original shape, can be fused, resistant to oils, chemicals, grease and other characteristics, making it the latest generation of high-grade pipe, can be made of oil, water, compressed air, pneumatic components such as air pressure tube.

　　4, shoes and sports equipment: TPU is the fourth generation of shoe sole material after rubber, PVC, SBS. It has greater elasticity more excellent mechanical strength, with better wear resistance, anti-cracking, bending and stronger abrasion, has become a variety of highly demanding special shoes soles and upper materials, such as soccer shoes, ice skates, mountaineering shoes, work shoes, etc., but also can do soccer, handball, basketball, volleyball upper materials and a variety of sports equipment auxiliary materials; 5, shaped materials: as TPU materials can be processed into various shapes through injection molding, extrusion, calendering and other plastic processing methods, and thus a variety of oil resistance, high temperature resistance, aging resistance, high mechanical properties of a variety of high-grade decorative lines is TPU materials and TPE materials to play its superior performance in the field of application. In particular, the high elasticity of thermoplastic elastomer, not subject to oil, high temperature water, harsh environmental damage, has become the first choice of high-grade decorative lines, sealing strips, soft and hard with the decorative strip material.

　　TPV performance and application areas

　　The structural characteristics of TPV ensure that it has good thermoplastic rheology and is easy to be molded and processed, and can be molded by injection molding, extrusion, calendering and other molding methods, and also ensure its high elasticity at room temperature, which is suitable for the production of various industrial equipment seals, shock absorbers, protective gears and various special-purpose conduits and fittings.

　　Performance and application of TPE

　　TPE has the ozone resistance and weather aging resistance of PVC, and the cross-linkability of NBR (nitrile rubber), and improved tensile strength, tensile stress, tear resistance, heat resistance and flame resistance, as well as oil resistance, fuel resistance, chemical resistance, easy coloring and other comprehensive properties. And the main material PVC source is abundant, low price, so in many fields have a wide range of applications.

　　1. Wire and cable: TPE can be used in the electric cable industry, even in the field of special cables, submarine cables, etc. can also compete with TPU and TPV.

　　2. Hose: TPE can be used as hose material, especially oil resistant hose and gas hose. Direct extrusion molding, fast speed, small expansion rate, smooth and black surface of products, good stiffness of pipe billets, easy to control the size. The products have been tested and used by customers and generally reflected better.

　　3. Rubber roller: rubber roller is a metal core covered with rubber through certain process. Due to the micro elastic deformation of rubber layer on the surface of rubber roller, the product can bear certain pressure to adapt to the needs of processing process, and at the same time, it does not produce excessive shear stress and damage the product, which has a wide range of uses. For a long time, most of the rubber rollers are made of rubber as outer covering material, TPE is used to replace rubber for the production of rubber rollers, especially suitable for the requirement of light-colored, bright-colored rollers, such as latex glove production line, printing, dyeing, textile industry required rubber rollers.

　　4. Shoe sole material: TPE, like TPU, is the latest generation of shoe sole material. Not only is it excellent in oil resistance, solvent resistance, flex crack resistance and abrasion resistance, but it is also cheaper than TPU and has become a high performance to price ratio shoe sole material. In addition, TPE can also be used in the production of foam, protective coating, flame retardant conveyor belt, various shaped materials, soft and hard combination of decorative and high-grade decorative strip production.