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].

APS Elastomers has released its “salt and pepper” custom color matching and blending for thermoplastic polyurethane and thermoplastic vulcanizate. This custom color matching and blending will assist customers with a broad range of color concentrate that are FDA, RoHS, CONEG, and NSF compliant and heavy-metal free, the company said.

Available in natural pellets, APS Elastomers' Zythane TPUs and Viprene TPVs offer superb colorability, APS said, and are fatigue resistant, dimensionally stable and offer very low compression set, heat aging stability, low temperature flexibility and excellent ultraviolet and ozone stability. They can be processed using conventional injection molding and extrusion equipment.

For more information on TPVs TPEs, TPUs, as well as standard and custom grades, contact APS Elastomers at [email protected] or visit the website at http://www.apstpe.com.

Master Bond Inc. has unveiled Master Bond EP121CL-LO, an epoxy that passes ASTM E595 testing for NASA low outgassing specifications.

This two-component system has a low mixed viscosity of 1,000-3,000 cps with a mix ratio of 100:80 by weight, Master Bond said, and features an open time of at least two to three days at room temperature in a 100-gram batch and requires oven curing.

EP121CL-LO adheres well to many substrates, Master Bond said, including metals, composites, glass, ceramics, rubbers and most plastics. It offers a high tensile strength, tensile modulus and compressive strength of over 12,000 psi, 450,000 psi and 15,000 psi, respectively, the company claimed. This epoxy resists a variety of chemicals such as water, oils, acids, bases, fuels and many solvents. It has optical clarity with a refractive index of 1.56, according to Master Bond.

With a volume resistivity exceeding 3x1014 ohm-cm at ambient temperatures, the company said this electrical insulator is used for potting, encapsulation, coating and sealing applications. When used as a coating, Master Bond said EP121CL-LO can be applied with a spatula, knife, trowel, brush, paint roller, etc. This product has a service temperature range of -80°F to +500°F, and it features a shelf life of a year in its original, unopened containers and is available in kits from one-half pints to five gallons, Master Bond said.

Read more about Master Bond's electrically insulating adhesives here.

Creative Materials Inc. has introduced a family of electrically conductive inks and coatings (product series 126-29) in several primary colors.

These new products are finding applications such as touch screens and displays, EMI-RFI shielding, medical devices and wearable electronics, Creative Materials said, where the functionality of an electrical conductor is required and the appearance of graphics arts is desired. Additionally, colored conductive inks feature good color stability and minimal opportunity for surface transfer of conductive particles when compared to conventional conductive inks, the company said.

The 126-29 series of products are designed for application by screen-printing, dipping and syringe dispensing. The product line features excellent adhesion to Kapton, Mylar, glass and a variety of other substrates, according to Creative Materials. Unlike conventional conductive materials, these products are resistant to abrasion, scratching, flexing and creasing, the company claimed. The product is available in red, blue or yellow, and these primary colors can be blended to achieve a variety of secondary or tertiary colors. Options include customized blends or versions designed for unique applications, Creative Material said.

For more information, click here.