BF Goodrich

BF Goodrich Performance Materials Borden Chemical Burdick Jackson Carbocloro (Brazil)... 

Several commercial products of PVC/TPU blends are available. The BF Goodrich Chemical Group has a PVC/ TPU blend based on their Estane series TPUs. For example, their Estane 54620, a polyester-based TPU with a °ShA 85 hardness, shows excellent compatibility with flexible PVC. The blends are produced by mixing PVC, TPU, plasticizer, stabilizer, and lubricant in a twin-screw extruder. These polymeric blends show intermediate mechanical properties between PVC and TPU. 

A premium antiscalent product in this group is Flocon 100 from Great Lakes Chemical Corporation (originally the brand was owned by Pfizer, then Ciba-Geigy, then FMC). Flocon 100 is a 35% w/w, 2,000 MW acrylic acid polymer. An alternate and much more concentrated product is Good-Rite K-752, a 62.5% w/w, 2,100 MW acrylic acid polymer from Noveon, Inc. (formerly BF Goodrich Company). 

Hoechst Corporation, Ashland Chemical Company, Cabot Corporation, Dow Chemical U.S.A., Dunlop Research Centre, E. I. du Pont de Nemours Company, The Firestone Tire Rubber Company, The General Tire Rubber Company, The BF Goodrich Company, The Goodyear Tire Rubber Company, Monsanto Company, Polysar Limited, Shell Development Company, 3M Chemicals Division, and Uniroyal Chemical Division. 

Waldo Semon was responsible for bringing many of the PVC products to market. As a young scientist at BF Goodrich, he worked on ways to synthesize rubber and to bind the rubber to metal. In his spare time, he discovered that PVC, when mixed with certain liquids, gave an elastic-like, pliable material that was rainproof, fire resistant, and did not conduct electricity. Under the trade name Koroseal, the rubbery material came into the marketplace, beginning around 1926, as shower curtains, raincoats, and umbrellas. During World War II, PVC became the material of choice to protest electrical wires for the Air Force and Navy. Another of his inventions was the SR patented under the name Ameripol that was dubbed liberty rubber since it replaced NR in the production of tires, gas masks, and other military equipment. Ameripol was a butadiene-type material. 

The authors are grateful for a generous fellowship support provided by BF Goodrich Co. 

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