Advantages of Silicone
Silicone is widely used in many fields such as daily necessities, sex toys, medical equipment, electronic industry, etc. due to its soft touch, good elasticity, non-toxicity and safety. However, no matter how good the material is, it cannot withstand the human being’s fault and the pursuit of perfection.
Disadvantages of Silicone
1.The price is not cheap. At present, the price of good quality silica gel on the market is generally not less than 30,000 yuan per ton, and some are even higher.
2.Long molding cycle. Silicone needs to be cross-linked (or vulcanized). Except for a few injection-molded silicones, the molding and processing time of most silicone raw materials needs to be measured in minutes, which virtually reduces production capacity.
3.Cannot be recycled. Since silicone products are all vulcanized and molded. The scraps, waste and waste silicone products cannot be recycled, which also increases material costs invisibly, which is not conducive to environmental protection and sustainable development.
Advantages of TPE
TPE and silicone have many similar properties, such as soft touch, rubber resilience, non-toxic and environmentally friendly, and so on. Compared with silica gel, TPE has the following advantages:
1.TPE soft rubber can be quickly formed by injection molding or extrusion process, without the need for molding and vulcanization like silicone.
2.TPE leftovers, scraps and waste products can be almost 100% recycled and reused.
3.The cost is relatively low. As above, the general cost of silica gel is more than 30,000 yuan per ton, and most TPE prices are below 30,000, or even 20,000 yuan per ton.
Disadvantages of TPE
Although TPE has the above advantages, as a thermoplastic material, TPE also has its inferiority or inferiority to silicone.
1.Not as elastic as silica gel. Silicone is a vulcanized system, and its elastic deformation can be 100% restored after the external force is removed; while the elastic deformation of TPE exceeds a certain external force or tensile elongation, its elastic recovery often cannot be restored.
2.The hand feel is slightly inferior. Silicone is soft and smooth to the touch. Although TPE has the same outstanding soft touch, it is more difficult to obtain a smooth effect comparable to that of silicone. Although the TPE formulation can be adjusted to improve the smoothness of the TPE, it is often Increase the cost of TPE as a price.
3.Environmental protection is slightly inferior. Although TPE basically meets all environmental testing requirements. However, when doing food-grade tests (US FDA 21CFR 177. 2600 and German LFGB), the TPE test failed, while the silica gel was completely in line with the test.
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