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What material is tpe? Which is better, silicone?

February 20,2023

What material is tpe?

TPE is a kind of thermoplastic elastomer, which is environmentally friendly, nontoxic, easy to color, smooth and soft to the touch, with hardness ranging from 0A to 120a, simple in processing and molding, and can be recycled without vulcanization, thus reducing the cost. It can be coated and bonded with PP, PE, PC, PS, ABS and other plastic materials (secondary injection molding), or it can be molded separately.

What is the difference between TPE and silicone?

1. TPE is a general term for a variety of elastomer materials which have rubber elasticity at normal temperature and can melt and flow at high temperature. Silica gel is a special kind of rubber, which has good mechanical strength, wear resistance and high temperature resistance after crosslinking. It belongs to thermosetting rubber. It will not melt after vulcanization and will burn when the temperature is too high. The products of complete combustion are water and silicon dioxide.
2. They are different in analytical structure: silica gel is an elastomer with silicon-oxygen bond in the main chain, and the side chain is generally methyl, that is, CH3. TPE is a thermoplastic elastomer, including styrene , olefin and polyurethane. The main difference of molecular structure between them is that one is SI02 structure and the other is CC structure.
3. In terms of processability, silica gel needs to be vulcanized and heated to form, while TPE can be processed and formed without vulcanization. Silica gel processing is difficult to form, while TPE production and processing are simple.
4. Silica gel has advantages over TPE in high temperature resistance. The temperature resistance of silica gel is generally between 200 and 300 degrees, while TPE is theoretically generally between 130 and 150 degrees Celsius, and it will age and crack if it is higher.
5. From the cost point of view, the waste of silica gel can't be recycled, and TPE waste, nozzle material, leftover material and so on can be completely recycled, and TPE can save more costs.
Which is better, TPE material or silica gel?
Generally, the hardness of silica gel is between 0A and 70A, while the hardness of TPE is between 0A and 0A-100A, and its softness can reach 000 degrees or 00000 degrees, so TPE is softer and the shaping of silica gel is stronger. Both of them have their own advantages, but TPE raw materials meet the shortcomings of silica gel materials in terms of processability, recyclability and cost. With the increasing variety and application of TPE, TPE is the best choice to replace silica gel.

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