Metallocene ethylene elastomer TPOs

The new metallocene ethylene elastomer TPOs now used in the automotive industry possess better low-temperature impact properties and better lifetime durability than soft vinyl plastic. Some new proprietary ethylene-octene copolymer elastomers are being used as TPOs as well, and a new introduction of an ethylene-butene copolymer has been made as well. 

Obviously, there exists severe interplastics competition, e.g. PP vs. ABS, clarified PP vs. PS, PA, PVC, HDPE and PS (Table 10.7). A wide range of cross-linked and thermoplastic elastomer applications, from footware to automotive parts and toothbrushes, are adopting new metallocene-catalysed polyolefin elastomers (POEs). These low-density copolymers of ethylene and octene were first accepted as impact modifiers for TPOs, but now displace EPDM, (foamed) EVA, flexible PVC, and olefinic thermoplastic vulcanisates (TPVs). Interpolymer competition may also result from... 

Stability (see Table 12.2). R talc is effective with ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) and ethylene propylene rubbers (EPR) but not as effective with metallocene elastomers containing TPOs. Recently, Clark [11] presented evidence of improvements in scratch and mar resistance when talc is grafted to TPO. The need for higher performance materials will drive the development of new surface modification technologies [3]. 

Polyolefins, PO. First impact modification of PO, by addition of elastomers, was patented independently by Bayer A.-G. and Standard Oil Co. in 1937. The isotactic polypropylene, PP, was commercialized in 1957, and its first blends (with polyisobutylene, PIB, and polyethylene, PE) were patented in 1958. In 1960, du Pont started manufacturing ethylene-propylene, EPR, and three years later ethylene-propylene-diene, EPDM, copolymers [Gresham and Hunt, I960]. The first patent on impact modification of PP by addition of EPR dates from 1960. Direct reactor blending of PE/PP/EPR resulting in a thermoplastic polyolefin, R-TPO, dates from 1979. The newest (introduced in 1992) single-site metallocene catalysts generate polymers with controlled tacticity, co-monomer sequences, molecular... 

EPDM is a terpolymer produced from ethylene, propylene, and a diene monomer that is usually 5-ethylidene-2-norbornene (ENB), see Eigure 3.12. Good EPDM properties are attainable because the stereospecific Ziegler-Natta catalysts and the newer metallocene-type catalysts are used in the polymerization of these elastomers. Much proprietary knowledge is applied with the latest catalysts to help the EPDM producers achieve a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Today, about 20% of all EPDM goes into the production of TPOs (thermoplastic olefins) or TPVs (thermoplastic vulcanizates), mainly for nontire automobile uses. (About 13% of EPDM production is used in TPO manufacture while about 7% is consumed in TPV production.)... 

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