ABSTRACT
The emergence of thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) provided a new horizon to the field of polymer technology. TPEs bridge the gap between conventional rubbers and thermoplastics. The hard segments that act as physical cross-links are thermally labile, and this allows TPEs to soften and flow under shear force at elevated temperature as in the case of true thermoplastics. TPEs appeared in the market as commercial products in the late 1950s with the introduction of thermoplastic polyurethane. A new method of nomenclature of TPEs was produced jointly by the International Organization for Standardization, the Society of Automotive Engineers, the Association of the Automotive Industries, Germany, and the producers of raw materials. Most common styrene-based block copolymers behaving as TPE show limited range of service temperature, below glass-transition temperature of hard segment. Ionomeric TPEs are a class of ionic polymers in which properties of vulcanized rubber are combined with the ease of processing of thermoplastics.
