Posted on: 2nd Sep 2016
Huntsman Discusses the Crossover of TPU Applications
Chemical company explains that pace of innovation for sports and leisure goods crosses over to other sectors
Dusseldorf, Germany – The speed of material innovation needed to satisfy footwear, leisure equipment and apparel manufacturers is helping to drive forward the use of thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) in new industrial applications – that was the message from the team at Huntsman, who were speaking at the K2016 preview in Dusseldorf on Tuesday 28 June.
Huntsman is a leading developer of TPU and operates across a variety of industrial and consumer markets. In the sports, leisure and apparel sector, Huntsman works closely with some of the world’s best-known brands, developing novel thermoplastic materials with specific processing and performance properties.
At K2016 in October, Huntsman’s TPU team will focus on the benefits that its products and systems can bring to the design and manufacture of everyday items – from consumer goods to highly specialized industrial applications that help to keep the world’s population active, healthy, mobile and connected. During the K2016 preview, Huntsman discussed how continuous innovation in the sports, leisure and apparel sector is driving forward the development of materials that ultimately find application elsewhere. Citing specific examples, Huntsman explained that:
Commenting, Craig Roberts, Marketing Manager Europe TPU at Huntsman, said: “At Huntsman, whenever we develop a new material, we think about the bigger picture; about challenges in other sectors; and if the materials we’ve developed – and their performance properties – might be transferable. Taking TPU materials, developed for the sports, leisure and apparel sector – where innovation is frequent and rapid – and adapting them for other applications, can be hugely beneficial.”
“At Huntsman, we pride ourselves on using lateral thinking and our knowledge of the material requirements of specifiers in different market sectors, to maximize the value of our TPU technologies. There are few materials that are as versatile as TPU, a fact which is underpinned by the countless examples of this innovative material cutting across different industries.”