New additives for better mechanical properties and easy processing

Among these are an increase in the tensile strength and elongation at break of the material, both in its initial state and following thermal ageing. In addition, the additive creates much improved isotropy and dimensional stability of injection moulded parts and extrusion products. This leads to a very concrete advantage for the final component part because its wall thickness can be reduced, resulting in less material consumption and less weight. Aerobatch PP comes in the form of a granular material to enable easy, dust-free processing.

Aerobatch U is another new additive in granular form, that helps to solve processing problems with TPUs. During processing, these usually have extremely low viscosity, which makes the moulding process difficult and reduces the scope of application. Evonik says that Aerobatch U significantly increases the melt strength and the crystallisation speed of TPU products. This widens the process window, which among other things substantially improves the moulding process of extruded and blow-moulded parts. What is more, the additive prevents the die freezing, makes it easier to control wall thickness, reduces stickiness, and increases output rates. Injection moulding grades can now also be used for extrusion applications for the first time.

“So far, TPUs could only be processed within relatively narrow process limits,” says Thomas Welker, project manager TPE at Evonik Industries. “We are now expanding these to a considerable extent.” According to Welker, this also means that in the future TPUs will be able to be used in a much greater number of applications: “The improvements we are achieving will open up entirely new opportunities for manufacturers in terms of product design.”

Aerobatch U comes in ester and ether versions (U 125 ES, U 125 ET).