Difference between TPV and TPE

Difference between TPV and TPE

A customer who called in to the AnswerPersonSM hotline said that he used to purchase Santoprene™ TPE and now it is Santoprene™ TPV. The customer wanted to know the difference and if there was a change in material. I responded that the material has not changed; just the way it was identified had changed. A TPV is a thermoplastic vulcanizate, made with a polymer matrix and a finely dispersed dynamically vulcanized rubber particles. For most Santoprene™ brand TPVs, this is PP and EPDM. TPE is a larger family of elastomers and stands for thermoplastic elastomer. Under TPEs are polyolefin blends, elastomeric alloys, styrenic block copolymers, thermoplastic polyurethanes, thermoplastic polyamides, thermoplastic copolyester and thermoplastic vulcanizates. Therefore, a TPV is a TPE, but a TPE is not necessarily a TPV.

Posted on 2008-04-17 1:00 PM