Thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers (TPU) are a type of elastomer that can be plasticized by heat and dissolved in solvents. They possess excellent comprehensive properties such as high strength, high toughness, abrasion resistance, and oil resistance, and have good processability, making them widely used in defense, medical, and food industries.
Thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers, with their excellent properties and wide range of applications, have become one of the most important thermoplastic elastomer materials. Their molecules are essentially linear, with little or no chemical cross-linking. Numerous hydrogen bonds form physical cross-links between the linear polyurethane molecular chains, reinforcing their morphology and imparting many excellent properties, such as high modulus, high strength, excellent abrasion resistance, chemical resistance, hydrolysis resistance, high and low temperature resistance, and mildew resistance. These superior properties make thermoplastic polyurethane widely used in footwear, cables, clothing, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, pipes, films, and sheets, among many other fields. The final products generally do not require vulcanization cross-linking, shortening the reaction cycle and reducing energy consumption. Because it is essentially a linear polymer, it can be processed using the same technologies and equipment as thermoplastics, such as injection molding, extrusion, blow molding, and calendering, making it particularly suitable for mass production of small to medium-sized parts. Waste materials can be recycled and reused, and different additives or fillers can be used during production or processing to improve certain physical properties and reduce costs.
The development and commercialization of TPU can be traced back to the 1950s. In 1950, Schollenberger and others at BF Goodrich began researching TPU. After several improvements, Goodrich (now Lubrizol) officially launched commercial TPU products, represented by EstaneVc, in 1961. In the 1990s, with foreign TPU manufacturers investing and establishing factories in China, my country's TPU industry began to take off and gradually develop.
Entering the 21st century, driven by multiple factors, including increased market demand (mainly due to substitution of PVC and rubber), improved domestic TPU production processes, a gradually stabilizing supply of domestic upstream raw materials, and improved downstream processing technologies, the compound annual growth rate of TPU production and sales in China has reached over 10%. With increasing usage, TPU has become an important component of the materials industry, mainly used in footwear, 3C casings, pipes, and films.
