A weekly look at new products, innovations

Editor's Note: Each week, Rubber & Plastics News will take a look at some of the rubber industry's new products and innovations on www.rubbernews.com. Does your company have a new product or new innovation? To be considered for inclusion in this recurring feature, email [email protected].

DuPont Co. has updated its DuPont Chemical Resistance Guide to be available online and offline for desktops, tablets and smartphones.

The CRG is a user-friendly tool to help seal specifiers choose the best elastomer for their application. DuPont said users can choose from more than 1,800 chemicals, and ratings are assigned to 20 elastomer families. The CRG provides additional information on DuPont Kalrez perfluoroelastomer parts and DuPont Viton fluoroelastomers.

The guide includes: an introduction to elastomers; the General Chemical Resistance Guide from the Los Angeles Rubber Group Inc.; and elastomer products from DuPont.

The CRG is provided free of charge from DuPont Performance Polymers on the DuPont website. Users click on “Access Chemical Resistance Guide” at www.crg.dupont.com for registration and immediate online access.

Elastocon TPE Technologies Inc. has expanded its 2800 Series of performance thermoplastic elastomers to include five new grades for overmolding and coextruding onto polyethylene.

The new grades, offered in Shore A hardness ranges of 25, 40, 50 and 65, specifically are formulated for overmolding or coextruding onto polyethylene, Elastocon said. Previous grades, which are still available, are suitable for overmolding only onto polypropylene and are available in Shore A hardness ranges from 10 to 90. All grades can be supplied for compounding or as ready-to-use pellets in 1,000-pound quantities, the firm said.

Potential applications might include mouthguards, clear straps, medical products and pet toys, among others. Additional applications cited by Elastocon include ovemolding for cap liners and grips for various polyethelene consumer packaging.

Elastocon said the TPEs have an ultra-soft, rubber-like feel and ability to be injection molded, extruded, blow-molded or compounded. These grades, old and new, provide a good surface finish to molded products and have high impact resistance, according to the company. Natural grades are FDA compliant, and all grades are UV stable. They exhibit excellent cold weather resistance, Elastocon said, and are resistant to chlorine and most household cleaning products, among other chemicals and oils. They are RoHS and California Proposition 65 compliant.

For more information on the TPEs, visit www.elastocontpe.com.

Bluestar Silicones USA Corp. has introduced the Bluesil TCS 7521, a flame and fire resistant silicone elastomer for coating fiberglass and other fire resistant fabrics that can be used as fire blankets and welding curtains, at the Techtextil Conference May 13-15 in Atlanta.

The advanced silicone-based material is easy to coat and cures at high speeds, Bluestar Silicones said, improving productivity for coaters.

The company produces its extensive range of silicone technologies at the York facility, including liquid silicone rubber, high consistency rubber, room-temperature vulcanized silicones, gels, greases and compounds, emulsions, UV/EB and thermal cure release coatings, foam control additives, and functionalized fluids and resins marketed under its Bluesil, Silbione, Silcolease, Silcolapse and Lyndcoat trade names.

For more information, visit http://www.bluestarsilicones.com/silicones/lang/en/bluestarsilicones.