European leading producer for window seals and global leader for automotive TPE-S sealing systems, CTS is launching the Tefabloc TP, Hybrid SBC-OBC, for refrigerator gaskets.For the household appliances market, and specifically in the white ware segment, the sealing function is, from the beginning, present on a lot of different equipments, such as washing machine, dishwasher, refrigerator and deep-freezer. Nevertheless, changes in regulations (REACH European Directive - Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) combined with high environmental expectations require a reappraisal of the present solutions, because in spite of the fact that they have been proven, the new requirements make some of them obsolete. This is particularly true for refrigerators where plasticized PVC gaskets are the more often than not with phtalates, about which the innocuousness is more and more contested
To match this challenge which includes strong competitive constraints, CTS has developed a unique solution, hybrid of SBC (Styrenic Block Copolymer) and OBC (Olefin Block Copolymer) technologies.
This development draws from one side on two decades of experience of Tefabloc SBC formulations for building and automotive sealing systems and on the other one on OBC, a new technology developed by The DOW Chemical Company and marketed as INFUSE polymers.
CTS is the first European compounder to have signed a licence agreement with The DOW Chemical Company to include INFUSE polymers in TPE formulation branded as Tefabloc TP. The Téfabloc TP range is combines performance, easy processing and competitiveness. Key point to focus on is the specific rheologic behaviour of refrigerator gasket formulations which makes them possible to be extruded on the same equipment as those for plasticized PVC. Consequently gaskets produced with Tefabloc TP do not require specific investments and may be from now mounted on refrigerators initially designed to be equipped with plasticized PVC seals.
