ABSTRACT
I. Introduction .................................................................................................. 140 A. Denition of Thermoplastic Elastomer .................................................. 141 B. Classication of Commercially Available Thermoplastic Elastomers ..... 141
II. Segmented Block Copolymer TPEs.............................................................. 143 A. Thermoplastic Polyurethanes ................................................................. 146
1. TPU Morphology and Microstructure ............................................... 148 2. Thermal Characteristics of TPUs ...................................................... 149 3. Aliphatic TPUs .................................................................................. 154
B. Elastomeric Copolyesters and Copolyamides ......................................... 155 III. Olenic Block Copolymers ........................................................................... 157 IV. Styrenic Block Copolymers .......................................................................... 160
A. Effect of Parafnic Oil on Todt of SBCs .............................................. 163 B. SBCs as Compounded Materials ............................................................ 164 C. SBC Morphology .................................................................................... 165 D. SEBS Compound Upper Service Temperature Improvement ................ 167 E. Selected New Developments in SBCs .................................................... 171
V. Thermoplastic Vulcanizates ......................................................................... 173 A. Denition of Dynamic Vulcanization .................................................... 174 B. Development of Dynamic Vulcanizates: Historical Perspective ............ 174 C. Principles of Dynamic Vulcanization ..................................................... 177
1. Principle I: Rubber and Plastic Compatibility ................................... 177 2. Principle II: Interphase Structure ...................................................... 185 3. Principle III: Plastic Phase Crystallinity ........................................... 185 4. Principle IV: Rubber Vulcanization .................................................. 190 5. Principle V: Morphology Control ...................................................... 192 6. Principle VI: Melt Viscosity Control ................................................. 195
D. Rationalization of PP/EPDM TPV Elastic Recovery ............................. 197 E. Thermoplastic Vulcanizate Processability ............................................. 199 F. Thermoplastic Vulcanizate Hardness Control ........................................ 199
VI. Final Comments ............................................................................................ 199 Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................200 References ..............................................................................................................200
In the fteenth century, Christopher Columbus witnessed South Americans playing a game centered around a bounceable “solid” mass that was produced from the exudate of a tree they called “weeping wood” [1]. This material was rst scientically described by C.-M. de la Condamine and François Fressneau of France following an expedition to South America in 1736 [2]. The English chemist Joseph Priestley gave the name “rubber” to the material obtained by processing the sap from Hevea brasiliensis, a tall hardwood tree (angiosperm) originating in Brazil, when he found that it could be used to rub out pencil marks [2]. A rubber is a “solid” material that can readily be deformed at room temperature and that upon release of the deforming force will rapidly revert to its original dimensions.
