The use of thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) continues to expand in many areas because of their ease of processability, lightweight nature, and breadth of potential applications. The stabilization of these polymer systems is important not only during processing, but also during the life of the finished product. A lot of work has been done on the stabilization of these materials, but there is still room for improvement. Heat stability at elevated temperatures approaching 175°C (350°F) continues to be a problem for these materials, and has kept TPE out of many applications in the automotive and other industries. Color stability is also critical in nearly all markets, even when heat stability is not an issue. This paper investigates several new stabilization systems that provide improved heat and color stability for TPE resins compared with conventional antioxidant packages.
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