NUREMBERG, Germany—Arlanxeo has released new thermoplastic vulcanizates that combine Keltan Eco EPDM rubber with green fillers, plasticizers and thermoplastics, resulting in EPDM products with up to 90 percent sustainable ingredients.
The firm said Keltan Eco is the world's first EPDM rubber manufactured using bio-based ethylene extracted from sugarcane. Depending on the ethylene content of each rubber grade, the proportion of bio-based material ranges between 50-70 percent.
By combining Keltan Eco EPDM with green compounding ingredients the new EPDM compounds also can be used for dynamic and static automotive sealing applications with 85-90 percent of its weight having sustainable origin and a technical performance comparable to standard EPDM compounds.
Arlanxeo said studies have shown that both the characteristics and technical performance of these Keltan Eco EPDM grades are identical to those of conventional EPDMs produced via Ziegler Natta catalysis and/or those from monomers based on crude oil.
The new bio-based EPDM grades are commercially tested and used in applications, such as window profiles for buses and buildings, automotive extrusion profiles, O-rings, TPV over-moldings for automotive interiors, pharma applications, sport surfaces and in the sponge rubber layer directly underneath the outer cover of the official soccer ball of the 2018 World Cup.
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