{"id":29326,"date":"2021-12-10T11:19:31","date_gmt":"2021-12-10T10:19:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/php8.plastv.de\/?p=29326"},"modified":"2021-12-10T11:19:31","modified_gmt":"2021-12-10T10:19:31","slug":"huntsman-and-shincell-create-fully-recyclable-tpu-foam-for-footwear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/plas.tv\/?p=29326","title":{"rendered":"Huntsman and Shincell Create Fully Recyclable TPU Foam for Footwear"},"content":{"rendered":"

Huntsman<\/a> has\u00a0developed a new thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU),\u00a0which is\u00a0fully recyclable, UV protected\u00a0and\u00a0can be extruded into a\u00a0film and\u00a0then\u00a0easily\u00a0expanded into foamed sheets.\u00a0The\u00a0special grade of IROGRAN\u00ae<\/sup>\u00a0TPU\u00a0was developed\u00a0by Huntsman,\u00a0in conjunction with the\u00a0Shincell\u00a0New Material Company Ltd,\u00a0which is using the material to\u00a0create\u00a0foam sheets that are then used in\u00a0insole, midsole\u00a0and\u00a0forepart insert\u00a0applications by\u00a0some of the world\u2019s leading footwear brands.<\/p>\n

Designed\u00a0as an alternative to\u00a0EVA,\u00a0the new material\u00a0has\u00a0high energy return properties\u00a0and\u00a0provides\u00a0long-lasting cushioning performance.\u00a0The TPU\u00a0film\u00a0can be easily\u00a0expanded\u00a0in a high-pressure vessel, using gas assisted technology,\u00a0and\u00a0without the use of additional chemicals typically needed for foaming or cross-linking. This makes the resulting\u00a0expanded foam\u00a0sheet,\u00a0and\u00a0any post-production scraps\u00a0and\u00a0final\u00a0footwear components, super lightweight\u00a0and\u00a0easy\u00a0to\u00a0recycle.<\/p>\n

Huntsman developed\u00a0the grade of IROGRAN\u00ae<\/sup>\u00a0TPU after\u00a0in-depth\u00a0discussions with\u00a0Shincell\u00a0about\u00a0how best to\u00a0improve\u00a0the\u00a0production\u00a0of expanded TPU sheets, which are growing in popularity across the footwear sector.\u00a0During a technical briefing,\u00a0Shincell\u00a0revealed it had\u00a0several\u00a0objectives.\u00a0From a manufacturing perspective,\u00a0Shincell\u00a0wanted a TPU grade that would increase its productivity, help it reduce waste and cut overall energy consumption.\u00a0Shincell\u00a0wanted to specify a TPU that was free of toxic or volatile chemicals and formaldehyde residues; and could be expanded without the use of butane, fluoride and\u00a0azodicarbonamide foaming agents. When it came to performance,\u00a0Shincell\u00a0was looking for\u00a0a\u00a0comfortable, durable, long-lasting\u00a0TPU\u00a0system that would be suitable for use in high performance sports shoes,\u00a0would outperform EVA in terms of cushioning set properties, and be recyclable.<\/p>\n

Dr\u00a0Xiulei\u00a0Jiang, founder of\u00a0Shincell\u00a0said: \u201cAs a business, we are focused on providing our customers with clean,\u00a0environmentally friendly,\u00a0high performance,\u00a0lightweight materials. When we decided to find a partner to help us improve the sustainability of\u00a0our\u00a0foam sheets,\u00a0I\u00a0knew Huntsman was the company to talk to.\u00a0My relationship with Huntsman\u00a0predates the creation of\u00a0Shincell. Huntsman has always\u00a0provided me with a consistently high level\u00a0of support,\u00a0and\u00a0I knew our strong working relationship and shared core values would bring this\u00a0project\u00a0to fruition\u00a0quickly and efficiently.\u00a0As always, Huntsman\u00a0did not disappoint.\u00a0The team has come up with a\u00a0very special product\u00a0that\u00a0satisfies\u00a0all of\u00a0our requirements. We see\u00a0numerous\u00a0novel applications for this\u00a0versatile, recyclable\u00a0material\u00a0within footwear,\u00a0and\u00a0beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n

For footwear\u00a0applications,\u00a0Shincell\u00a0produces expanded foam sheets\u00a0that its\u00a0customers then cut into\u00a0the shapes and sizes they want.\u00a0Because\u00a0this\u00a0particular grade of IROGRAN\u00ae<\/sup>\u00a0TPU is recyclable,\u00a0Shincell\u00a0can collect any excess\u00a0or\u00a0scrap material from its customers\u00a0for reuse.\u00a0Upon collection the scraps\u00a0are\u00a0ground down and reformulated. They can also be\u00a0sold on to other customers.<\/p>\n

Yi Li,\u00a0Business Development Manager\u00a0at Huntsman, said: \u201cShincell\u00a0came to us with a really clear vision and set of technical requirements. It was great to work together on this project and create such a\u00a0novel\u00a0material. The fact that it can be expanded,\u00a0without the use of chemicals,\u00a0and\u00a0easily\u00a0recycled is a game changer. We are sure\u00a0news of its development\u00a0will generate lots of interest from material specifiers in different\u00a0parts of the footwear\u00a0sector.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shincell\u00a0is currently testing\u00a0the new grade of IROGRAN\u00ae<\/sup> TPU\u00a0for other consumer applications\u00a0and is\u00a0exploring the\u00a0potential to\u00a0use the material in\u00a0the\u00a0automotive\u00a0industry.\u00a0Other softer grades of\u00a0the material\u00a0are also in the\u00a0development\u00a0pipeline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Huntsman has\u00a0developed a new thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU),\u00a0which is\u00a0fully recyclable, UV protected\u00a0and\u00a0can be extruded into a\u00a0film…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29327,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,16],"tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-29326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-plas-tv-meldungen-auf-der-startseite-unterhalb-slider","category-plast-tv-textmeldungen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/plas.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/plas.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/plas.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plas.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plas.tv\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29326"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/plas.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29328,"href":"https:\/\/plas.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29326\/revisions\/29328"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plas.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/plas.tv\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plas.tv\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plas.tv\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29326"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plas.tv\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fseries&post=29326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}