Bayer MaterialScience believes the search is over, thanks to the company's new Desmopan® 600 Series of soft TPU resins now available in DP-6065A, DP-6386A and DP-6045DU grades. Bayer calls them "next generation" TPUs.

"These polyether-based TPU resins have a hardness range of 65 ShoreA to 45 Shore D," said Gerry DiBattista, Bayer MaterialScience channel manager for TPU injection molding. "They solidify quickly, thus reducing cycle time by 50 percent or more versus traditional polyether TPUs. This makes them ideal for injection molding, and they have high form stability," he said.

These features, plus high microbe and hydrolysis resistance and recyclability, make them ideal for manufacturing injection molded technical parts. DP-6065A is suitable for "soft touch" applications. DP-6386A is suitable for the extrusion of tubes, hoses, profiles and sheets, and DP-6045DU is ideal for various molded functional components.

"Natural adhesion to a variety of common rigid substrates makes these resins excellent materials for overmolding and a host of other industrial and consumer applications," DiBattista said.

The new resins were made possible by breakthrough research at Bayer MaterialScience laboratories. The research led to ester-based TPUs based on a soft, fast re-crystallizing ether soft segment.

Unlike some soft TPUs, the Desmopan 600 Series is plasticizer-free and is not compounded with any other material. "That's a dramatic improvement," DiBattista noted, "since plasticizers or compounds with other soft elastomers can lead to a dramatic reduction in the excellent property matrix of a true TPU."

For more information about Bayer MaterialScience in the NAFTA region, call 800-662-2972, inquire via e-mail at TPUinfo@bayer.com or visit www.BayerMaterialScienceNAFTA.com.