New halogen-free, high-heat grades of TPUs for wire & cable applications

19-Nov-08

The thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) business unit of BASF Corporation has unveiled two new tough, halogen-free, high-heat grades of TPU for wire and cable jacketing applications at the annual 2008 IWCS (International Wire and Cable Show) held in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. Both TPUs exhibit excellent abrasion resistance, toughness, low temperature properties, hydrolytic stability and fungus resistance per standard DIN tests. The new TPU adds to its FHF line of products and features a non-halogenated fire retardant for cable jacketing and other applications. This new grade has a Shore A hardness of 90, a tensile strength of 25 MPa (between other BASF grades), good tear strength of 60 N/m while its abrasion loss is 30 mm3. BASF also featured its Elastollan 1185 A 10 F001 TPU polyether-based TPU compound that contains a halogen-containing flame retardant. It is formulated for extrusion applications that include cable jacketing, film/sheet, hose and hose jacketing and profile extrusions. This TPU has a Shore A hardness of 87 and a tensile strength of 29 MPa, as well as an extremely high tear strength of 96 N/mm.