Although thermoplastic polyurethane(TPU) film only accounts for a very small share of the plastic film industry, its environmental protection advantages are prominent due to its good biocompatibility and recyclability. With the continuous improvement of people’s environmental awareness and consumption ability, the substitution effect of TPU film on existing plastic film products will gradually be reflected.
The advantages of environmental protection are highlighted, and the market size is increasing year by year
TPU film has High strength, good toughness, cold resistance, oil resistance, aging resistance, climate resistance, environmentally friendly and non-toxic, decomposable, waterproof and breathable, windproof, coldproof, warm, antibacterial, anti-ultraviolet and energy release and other excellent properties, it can be used in shoe materials, Waterproof and breathable fabrics, food packaging, medical supplies, inflatable bags, sports and leisure equipment and many other fields. It is easy to recycle and biodegradable, which can fundamentally avoid environmental pollution by waste; it is biocompatible, non-toxic, non-allergic, non-local irritant and non-pyrogenic. Because of its superior performance and environmental protection concept, it is increasingly popular among people, and its application breadth and depth are constantly expanding. With the alternate development of industry technology, replacing non-environmentally friendly films with TPU films has become a trend in promoting environmental protection policies around the world.
In addition, the use of TPU to make hot melt adhesives, a new product – hot melt adhesive film, has gradually begun to start and develop, and is different from the currently dominant EVA hot melt adhesives and synthetic rubber hot melt adhesives. In comparison, TPU hot melt adhesive film can not only meet customers’ demand for high viscosity, but also has the good physical properties of TPU, such as good elasticity and high mechanical strength. TPU hot melt adhesive film can be used in many areas where traditional hot melt adhesives are difficult to use. Competent. TPU hot melt adhesive film will be one of the important development directions in the future combining the fields of plastic film and hot melt adhesive.
It is understood that the current international advanced TPU film companies are mainly concentrated in Europe, the United States, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. In the early days, my country’s TPU films were mainly imported. In recent years, with the rapid development of domestic enterprises, domestic products have begun to dominate the Chinese market, but some high-end market areas are still dominated by imported products.
The application extends to new fields, and the penetration rate continues to increase
At present, the application and consumption of TPU films are mainly concentrated in footwear materials, waterproof and breathable fabrics, high-end handbags and leather goods fabrics, Inflatable bladders and other fields.
1
Shoe material
TPU film upper The material usually consists of a three-layer structure: the surface layer is a PU layer, which is used to color the upper, print patterns, etc.; the middle layer is a TPU film, which is the main part of the fabric and determines the main performance characteristics of the upper; the bottom layer is TPU thermal The main function of the melt adhesive film is to serve as an adhesive to bond the TPU upper material to the shoe body. The TPU film upper material can use the excellent adhesive properties of its underlying TPU hot-melt adhesive film to directly fit and press the shoe body without sewing. Therefore, it is also called TPU sewing-free upper.
Due to the excellent performance of TPU film uppers and the processing method that does not require manual cutting, since 2009, mid-to-high-end sports shoe uppers have gradually begun to use TPU film upper materials on a large scale to replace PU microfiber leather and PU space leather. At present, first-tier sports shoe brands at home and abroad have widely used TPU film to make uppers, and domestic second-tier sports shoe brands have also begun to use TPU film uppers.
2
Waterproof and breathable fabric
TPU film has strong adhesiveness and can be bonded with various materials to form high-performance fabrics. composite materials. TPU blow molded waterproof and breathable film is widely used in clothing products, inflatable products, sporting goods, medical supplies and other fields. Waterproof and breathable composite fabrics are laminated with ordinary textile fabrics and high-tech waterproof and breathable films such as TPU films. They are high-tech products that integrate waterproofing, moisture permeability, windproofing and warmth. They are known as “breathable fabrics” ” or “humanity’s second skin.” It fundamentally solves the contradiction between waterproofing and moisture permeability, increases people’s wearing comfort, improves product quality and added value, and occupies the mid-to-high-end market. It has become a major project in the development of textile products in various countries and is moving toward industrialization. The field continues to expand, and Western developed countries have listed it as a high-tech product in the 21st century. At present, my country’s TPU waterproof and breathable films have been widely used in clothing and other fields.
3
High-end handbags and leather goods
Currently, genuine leather, synthetic leather and cloth are the three most commonly used materials for high-end handbags and leather goods. TPU film has excellent properties such as waterproof, moisture permeable, yellowing resistance, hydrolysis resistance, and high temperature resistance. Its application in high-end handbags and leather goods is mainly to laminate with the above three materials to manufacture bag bodies, decorations, accessories, etc., making it Better feel and physical properties.
Due to price reasons, TPU films have only been used as luggage materials in recent years, and are only used in mid-to-high-end luxury handbags and leather goods. However, the usage shows a rapid growth trend. As Europe, the United States and Japan impose increasingly strict regulations and restrictions on synthetic materials such as PU and PVC, synthetic materials such as PVC and PU will gradually be replaced by environmentally friendly TPU.�It is expected that the market size of TPU films in high-end handbags and leather goods will continue to grow rapidly in the next few years.
4
Inflatable bladder
TPU is a new type of inflatable bladder material that has developed rapidly in recent years. It has obvious advantages compared with PVC and traditional rubber tape. TPU has unparalleled tensile resistance, tear resistance, wear resistance and low temperature flexural resistance of rubber or PVC. It also has good oil resistance, aging resistance and weather resistance. It is superior to PVC in terms of material softness and mechanical strength, and does not contain a large amount of easily volatile plasticizers like PVC, which will cause the material to harden and become brittle, and the mechanical properties will deteriorate. However, due to the high price, TPU tape is currently mainly used to make high-end capsule materials that require higher material performance, such as air mattresses, massage chair capsule materials, rubber boats and inflatable boat capsule materials for offshore operations, and lifting Airbag materials, capsule materials for military or civilian airships, sphere coatings and inner bladders, etc.
TPU film is a sustainably modified new industrial material that can be modified by raw materials and materials Formula adjustment, production process optimization and other methods can further optimize performance and expand application fields, which can give it strong and sustainable vitality. The application scope of TPU films is gradually extending from the original key areas such as shoes, clothing, home textiles, and luxury handbags to new areas such as agriculture, medical care, electronics, aerospace, and military industry. In the future, with the in-depth research and development of TPU film products and the improvement of the technical level of the TPU film industry, the application fields will continue to expand and the penetration rate will continue to increase, which will in turn bring huge opportunities to related manufacturing companies.
