WALDKRAIBURG, Germany—Kraiburg TPE is developing a thermally conductive thermoplastic elastomers for applications in automotive battery and charging systems.
The new TPE materials are intended to prolong service life of batteries by ensuring that high temperatures generated during the charging process are dissipated "quickly and continuously."
Compared to liquid or paste-like thermal conductors, the TPEs are said to offer "significantly higher" functional and spatial stability during module assembly, Kraiburg said in a July 30 news release.
In addition, the materials provide "the application advantages of thermoplastic injection molding," according to Annika Alke, a member of the development team at Kraiburg TPE. "Especially when large quantities are required, the two-component hard/soft composite components made of TPE and polyamide can play to their strengths with their high thermal conductivity."
For the development program, the German-based compounder collaborated with Lehvoss Group to determine the overall performance of the new TPEs in target applications.
During jointly conducted tests, the newly developed TPEs were combined with thermally conductive and adhesion-optimized polyamide compounds from Lehvoss.
The results, Kraiburg said, confirmed the suitability of the new materials particularly for applications in multi-component composites "to a high degree."
Further selling points for the new TPEs, the company added, is their "touch quality (and) evenly dry surface" and their favorable environmental profile compared to other polymers.
