What is TPU?

When we buy a mobile phone case, we can see from the manual that its production material is TPU. Many people don’t know it very well, so do you know what material TPU is? Do you know its characteristics and scope of application? Next, let us learn some knowledge about it together.

What material is TPU?

TPU is the abbreviation of Thermoplastic Urethane, which is a kind of building material it is also a common material. It is mainly divided into the polyester type and polyether type. It has a wide range of hardness (60HA-85HD), abrasion resistance, oil resistance, transparency, good elasticity, strong high tension, and high tension, and is a mature environmental protection material. It is widely used in daily necessities, sporting goods, toys, decoration materials, and other fields. TPU has obtained the relevant certification of international green environmental protection materials, halogen-free flame retardant TPU can replace soft PVC to meet the environmental protection requirements of many fields.

Features of TPU material:

As an elastomer, TPU is a material between rubber and plastic. This can be seen from its rigidity. The rigidity of TPU can be measured by its elastic modulus. The elastic modulus of rubber is usually 1~10Mpa, TPU is 10~1000Mpa, and plastic (nylon, ABS, PC, POM) is 1000~10000Mpa. The hardness range of TPU is quite wide, from Shore A 60 to Shore D 80 and has high elasticity throughout the hardness range; TPU is flexible in a wide temperature range of -40 to 120°C, without plasticizers; TPU has good resistance to oils (mineral oil, animal and vegetable fats and lubricants) and many solvents; TPU also has good weather resistance and excellent high-energy ray resistance. The well-known abrasion resistance, tear resistance, and yield strength are all excellent; high tensile strength, high elongation, and low long-term compression set rate are all significant advantages of TPU.

1. High wear resistance: It can be seen from the comparison of the Taber abrasion index of TPU and other materials.

2. Wide range of hardness: By changing the ratio of each reaction component of TPU, products with different hardness can be obtained, and as the hardness increases, the product still maintains good elasticity and wear resistance.

3. High mechanical strength: TPU products have outstanding bearing capacity, impact resistance, and shock absorption performance.

4. Good processing performance: TPU can be processed by common thermoplastic material processing methods, such as injection, extrusion, calendering, and so on. At the same time, TPU and certain polymer materials can be processed together to obtain polymer alloys with complementary properties.

5. Outstanding cold resistance: The glass transition temperature of TPU is relatively low, and it still maintains good elasticity, flexibility, and other physical properties at minus 35 degrees.

6. Oil resistance, water-resistance, and mildew resistance.

7. Good recyclability.

TPU products are widely used:

Footwear: sports shoe logo, sports shoe cushions, hiking shoes, snowshoes, golf shoes, roller skates, the fabric, and inner lamination materials.

Ready-to-wear categories: snow jackets, raincoats, windbreakers, cold-proof jackets, field suits, diapers, physiological pants, and other fabric composite materials (waterproof and moisture-permeable).

Medicine: surgical gowns, caps, shoes, hospital mattresses, ice packs, bandages, plasma bags, surgical dressing strips, masks, and other fabrics and inner materials, operating bed airbags.

National defense supplies: aircraft fuel tanks, weapon sealing film, tent windows, military water bags, life jackets, inflatable motorboats, and other fabrics and inner fabrics, airbags.

Sports goods: football surface and inner liner, inflatable bed, drinking water bag, ski gloves (waterproof bag), diving suit, snowsuit, swimsuit, snowboard, trademark, airbag, sports shirt, slimming clothes, and other fabrics and inner materials.

Industrial supplies: trumpet drum paper rubber edges, waterproof strips, sound insulation materials, fire-resistant materials, fire-resistant clothing, finished fire-fighting clothing, fire-resistant cloth, and other fabrics and inner composite materials.

Other uses mobile phone cases, plastic inflatable toys, bed sheets, table towels, shower curtains, furniture cloth, aprons, pianos, computer keyboards, film, and other fabrics and inner materials.

2 forms of TPU materials:

1. TPU film/sheet

TPU film is widely used in sport shoes: trademark decoration on soles and uppers, airbags, air cushions, oil bags, etc. Nowadays, there are two trends in the use of TPU film in sport’s shoes: one is the popular windblown by Nike sports shoes, that is, the TPU film is first screen-printed and colored, and then formed with high frequency and bonded to the shoe. Decorate the surface to obtain a special decoration effect. The other is to use waterproof and moisture-permeable TPU film and shoe material cloth to be used together to achieve the effect of waterproof and moisture-permeable.

2. TPU granules

Thermoplastic TPU elastomer is made of MDI containing NCO functional group and POLYOL and butanediol containing OH functional group through extrusion and mixing. Because of its good elasticity, good physical properties, and excellent mechanical strength, It is widely used in injection, extrusion, calendering, and dissolution into solution resins. It is a plastic material often used by the plastics industry. Its products cover the scale of industrial use and necessities for people’s livelihood.

Have you ever seen that your shoes, rain gear, or other items are also made of TPU materials? Have you also been worried about the safety and environmental protection of these materials? I believe that everyone is relieved by the above explanation, but TPU is A new type of environmentally friendly material.

The above is the relevant introduction of what material TPU is. I hope that the above introduction can help you to have a more in-depth understanding of what material TPU is and its characteristics and applications.