Polyether elastomers

Polyester-silicone Polyesters, thermoplastic Polyesters, unsaturated Polyester urethanes Polyester-wool blends Polyether antibiotics Polyether carboi lates Polyether elastomers... 

In 1957, it was discovered that organometaUic catalysts gave high mol wt polymers from epoxides (3). The commercially important, largely amorphous polyether elastomers developed as a result of this early work are polyepichlorohydrin (ECH) (4,5), ECH—ethylene oxide (EO) copolymer (6), ECH—aUyl glycidyl ether (AGE) copolymer (7,8), ECH—EO—AGE terpolymer (8), ECH—propylene oxide (PO)—AGE terpolymer (8,9), and PO—AGE copolymer (10,11). The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) has designated these polymers as follows ... 

Hercules and B. F. Goodrich are no longer in the polyether manufacturing business. In 1986, Hercules sold its polyether elastomer operation to B. F. Goodrich, which, after operating it for several years, in turn sold it and their whole specialty elastomer division to Zeon Chemicals USA, Inc., in 1989 (14). Zeon Chemicals USA, Inc., is a subsidiary of the Nippon Zeon Co., Ltd. At the present time, manufacture of polyethers is done by Zeon Chemicals in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Nippon Zeon in Tokuyama, Japan, and Daiso in Mizushima, Japan. Total production is estimated to be 13,000 to 15,000 tons per year. 

AH of the polyether elastomers, like other vulcanizable elastomers, can be compounded with processing aids, fillers, plasticizers, stabilizers, and vulcanizing agents to make useful mbber products. A typical compounding recipe for epichlorohydrin elastomer is as follows ... 

Plasticizers. Addition of plasticizers (qv) to polyether elastomers alters physical properties, improves processing, and can improve low temperature flexibiUty. Plasticizers also reduce vulcanizate costs by allowing the use of higher levels of less expensive fillers. 

Polyether elastomers are moderately costly when compared with other synthetic mbbers because of their specialty, smaH-volume nature (Table 4). 

All these elastomers, especially poly(ethylene- (9-butylene) and poly(ethylene- (9-propylene), are nonpolar. The corresponding block copolymers can thus be compounded with hydrocarbon-based extending oils, but do not have much oil resistance. Conversely, block copolymers with polar polyester or polyether elastomer segments have Htde affinity for such hydrocarbon oils and so have better oil resistance. 

Table 6. Trade Names of Multiblock Thermoplastic Elastomers Based on Polyurethane/Elastomer, Polyether/Elastomer, and Polyamide/Elastomer Block Copolymers...

Drive belts -polyether elastomers [ELASTOMERS, SYNTHETIC - POLYETHERS] (Vol 8)... 

Elastomers, synthetic -acrylic elastomers [ELASTOMERS, SYNTHETIC - ACRYLIC ELASTOMERS] (Vol 8) -butyl rubber [ELASTOMERS, SYNTHETIC - BUTYL RUBBER] (Vol 8) -chlorosulfonated polyethylene [ELASTOMERS, SYNTHETIC - CHLOROSULFONATED POLYETHYLENE] (Vol 8) -ethylene-acrylic elastomers [ELASTOMERS, SYNTHETIC - ETHYLENE-ACRYLIC ELASTOMERS] (Vol 8) -ethylene-propylene-diene rubber [ELASTOMERS,SYNTHETTC - ETHYLENE-PROPYLENE-DIENE RUBBER] (Vol 8) -fluorocarbon elastomers [ELASTOMERS, SYNTHETIC - FLUOROCARBON ELASTOMERS] (Vol 8) -nitrile rubber [ELASTOMERS, SYNTHETIC - NITRILE RUBBER] (Vol 8) -phosphazenes [ELASTOMERS, SYNTHETIC - PHOSPHAZENES] (Vol 8) -polybutadiene [ELASTOMERS, SYNTHETIC - POLYBUTADIENE] (Vol 8) -polychloroprene [ELASTOMERS, SYNTHETIC - POLYCHLOROPRENE] (Vol 8) -polyethers (ELASTOMERS, SYNTHETIC - POLYETHERS] (Vol 8) -polyisoprene [ELASTOMERSSYNTHETTC - POLYISOPRENE] (Vol 9) -survey [ELASTOMERS, SYNTHETIC - SURVEY] (Vol 8)... 

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