TPE 2010

Despite the global recession, TPE materials continue to show healthy growth, with global demand forecast to grow at 6% per year to 2013, reaching 4.2 million tonnes (source Freedonia Group), largely due to their unique combination of elastomeric properties with thermoplastic processibility and recyclability.

With the world economy now growing and consumer confidence improving, the demand for higher performance TPEs is set to once again drive technical product developments - this conference was packed with new and exciting developments in markets, materials, additives and applications. As you would expect, the situation with TPE markets in a post recession world was reviewed, together with a look at alternative TPE technologies to keep the European industry ahead of the game.

These proceedings cover all the presentations from the conference which include a review of styrenic TPE with improved compression set for sealing applications, a new TPE with high vibration damping characteristics and high performance TPE compounds suitable for medical/pharmaceutical use. New processing techniques for compounding TPVs together with new TPVs for automotive applications and the UV performance of TPVs were also amongst the topics for discussion.