Specialty additives process aids

TPEs usually require little or no compounding with other materials. They are available fuUy compounded and ready for a wide range of uses. Their compositional consistency is higher than that of thermoset mbbers, which must be mixed with curatives, stabilizers, processing aids, and specialty additives such as flame retardants. 

Chemists sometimes find it convenient or necessary to use process aids as a temporary fix to an existing factory formulation or as a permanent addition to a new formula. This is especially true when compounding specialty elastomers. There are many of these polymers available, but often only in a limited number of grades on hand in the factory, so the rubber chemist must make do with those grades which are readily available. 

In addition to the information on the specialty elastomers, chapters on the more important ingredients used with them are included. These are plasticizers, vulcanization agents, antioxidants and antiozonants, and process aids. 

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