DuPont Transportation & Industries announced that its collaboration with ExxonMobil Chemical on elastomers has been a great success. They teamed up to develop new Santoprene thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs) for automotive corner forming seals.
The two companies developed a new generation of Santoprene thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs) by using silicon-based additives designed by DuPont instead of traditional organic slip additives, which not only improved adhesion to ethylene propylene diene monomer (EDPM) rubber substrate Performance and low coefficient of friction (COF) make doors and windows easier to open and close. The new series of Santoprene TPV B260 products also have better fluidity, abrasion resistance and UV light stability.
In order to meet customer demand for improved corner-formed seals, ExxonMobil hopes to improve the adhesion of Santoprene TPV to high-density EPDM rubber while improving the sliding properties of the product. However, in order to improve the sliding properties, it is necessary to reduce the friction coefficient, which in turn affects the adhesion of the two. The company is working with DuPont to explore the use of advanced silicon-based additives that outperform organic additives previously used by ExxonMobil.
The DuPont R & D team found that low molecular weight silicone polymers and ultra-high molecular weight silicone polymers work together to meet ExxonMobil's low friction coefficient requirements. Silicon-based technology makes the product slip better than organic additives, and at the same time enhances the adhesion to high-density EPDM rubber, which is a key factor for injection molding. In addition, it has higher fluidity and is easier to process and produce. It has better abrasion resistance to prevent the seals from being damaged when the door is opened and closed with excessive force. It also improves UV stability and helps prevent cracking and discoloration.