What is TPE?

Thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) are raw materials that can be processed on standard plastic processing machinery. In addition to offering strength comparable to vulcanized rubber, they provide users with low production and investment costs—along with high processing efficiency—thanks to functional properties such as low density, a wide hardness range, resistance to environmental conditions and temperature, recyclability, low permanent deformation, and colorability.

TPEs are generally composed of a soft phase and a hard phase. The soft phase determines properties similar to rubber materials—such as flexibility, elasticity, and cold-weather resistance—while the hard phase dictates characteristics typical of thermoplastic materials, such as temperature resistance, strength, and processability.

Due to this structure, TPEs possess the flexibility, elasticity, and weather resistance of rubber materials, while also exhibiting the temperature resistance, strength, and processability of thermoplastic materials.

Basic Formulation

 Polymer Classification