Evaluation of thermoplastic polyuretane based thermoplastic vulcanizates for interior automotive applications

摘要

Although thermoplastic polyolefins (TPOs) have been considered as costwise and environmentally attractive materials, they face the difficulty in being used as potential automotive applications because of poor scratch resistance and oil resistance. The new thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs) composed of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU)/polypropylene (PP) /polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene-co-propylene)-block-polystyrene copolymer (SEPS) systems have been found out to have outstanding oil resistance and scratch resistance. Now they can be used for various kinds of automotive applications such as injection molded, blow molded, extruded, calendered and further, slush molded automotive parts, particularly for automotive interior skins without any coat. The essential issue is conceivably just prolonged weathering resistance and durability. In this paper, this new TPVs are evaluated from the standpoints of weathering stability, long term heat aging and fogging as well as the mechanical and physical properties.