Classification, Synthesis, and Processing of TPU Materials - Guangyuan Ruifeng New Materials
Category: Solution
Release Time: 2025-06-30
Summary: TPU stands for thermoplastic polyurethane, a type of polyurethane that can be plasticized by heating and dissolved by solvents. Compared to blended and cast polyurethanes, thermoplastic polyurethanes have few or no chemical crosslinks in their chemical structure; their molecules are essentially linear, yet there is a certain amount of physical exchange. (TPU crosslinking agent manufacturer)
TPU stands for thermoplastic polyurethane, a type of polyurethane that can be plasticized by heating and dissolved by solvents. Compared to blended and cast polyurethanes, thermoplastic polyurethanes have few or no chemical crosslinks in their chemical structure; their molecules are essentially linear, yet there is a certain amount of physical exchange. (TPU crosslinking agent manufacturer)
I. Classification of TPU
TPU can be classified in many different ways. For example, according to the soft segment structure, it can be divided into polyester type, polyether type, and butadiene type, which contain ester groups, ether groups, or butene groups, respectively. According to the hard segment structure, it is divided into urethane type and urethane urea type, which are obtained from diol chain extenders or diamine chain extenders, respectively. The common division is into polyester type and polyether type. According to whether there is crosslinking, it can be divided into pure thermoplastic and semi-thermoplastic. The former is a pure linear structure without crosslinking bonds; the latter contains a small amount of crosslinking bonds such as urethane. According to the use of finished products, it can be divided into shaped parts (various mechanical parts), pipes (sheaths, bar materials), and films (sheets, plates), as well as adhesives, coatings, and fibers. (TPU crosslinking agent manufacturer)
II. How is TPU synthesized?
Although TPU has many classifications, from a molecular structure point of view, it belongs to polyurethane. So, how is it polymerized? According to the different synthesis processes, it is mainly divided into bulk polymerization and solution polymerization. (TPU crosslinking agent manufacturer)
In bulk polymerization, it can be divided into prepolymerization and one-step methods according to whether there is a pre-reaction: the prepolymerization method is to react diisocyanate with macromolecular diol for a certain period of time, and then add a chain extender to produce TPU; the one-step method is to mix macromolecular diol, diisocyanate, and chain extender simultaneously to react into TPU. (TPU crosslinking agent manufacturer)
Solution polymerization is to first dissolve the diisocyanate in a solvent, then add a macromolecular diol to react for a certain period of time, and finally add a chain extender to generate TPU.
The type, molecular weight, hard segment or soft segment content, and aggregated state of the TPU soft segment will affect the density of the TPU, which is approximately between 1.10 and 1.25, with no significant difference from other rubbers and plastics. At the same hardness, the density of polyether TPU is lower than that of polyester TPU. (TPU crosslinking agent manufacturer)
III. TPU Processing
The synthesized TPU particles need to undergo various processing methods to form the final product. The main processing methods for TPU are melt processing and solution processing. (TPU crosslinking agent manufacturer)
Melt processing uses commonly used processes in the plastics industry: such as mixing, calendering, extrusion, blow molding, and molding (including injection, compression, transfer, and centrifugal molding); solution processing is to dissolve the granules in a solvent or directly polymerize in a solvent to form a solution, and then perform coating, spinning, etc. (TPU crosslinking agent manufacturer)
The final product of TPU generally does not require a vulcanization crosslinking reaction, which can shorten the production cycle, and waste materials can be recycled and reused. (TPU crosslinking agent manufacturer)
Keywords: Classification, Synthesis, and Processing of TPU Materials - Guangyuan Ruifeng New Materials
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