A research group led by Atsushi Noro, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, said that the ionic rubber material jointly developed with Nippon Zeon Co., Ltd. has better impact resistance than fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) of a high-strength composite resin material that is also used for automobile bumpers and hulls of small vessels.

 Thermoplastic elastomer is a rubber material that is lighter than hard materials such as metal and ceramics and has flexibility, elasticity, and workability.It is mainly used for interior and exterior materials of automobiles, and is said to have an annual market size of 2 trillion yen worldwide.Recently, further research and development has been advanced due to the growing market needs for materials having both strength and toughness.The research group was also collaborating with Zeon Corporation to develop an ionic thermoplastic elastomer (i-SIS) that exhibits world-class high toughness.

 In this study, the impact resistance of i-SIS was directly evaluated by dropping a rod-shaped weight (about 16 kg), which is a hemisphere with a diameter of 3mm at the tip, onto a sample of the same thickness and causing it to collide.When compared with the impact resistance of conventional nonionic thermoplastic elastomers (SIS), it was found to be 3.1 to 4.4 times higher.In addition, it showed 0.86 to 1.22 times more impact resistance than glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP), which is lightweight but has high strength. Although i-SIS is a lightweight rubber material, it has been clarified that it exhibits high-strength composite resin material and identification level, or impact resistance that surpasses it.

 Although i-SIS is lightweight, it has the mechanical properties of rubber, thermoplasticity, and high impact resistance, and can be produced industrially.By using it in the body of mobiles and related members that require impact resistance, it is expected to contribute to the realization of a carbon-free society by reducing the weight of mobiles and contributing to fuel efficiency through weight reduction. There is.

Paper information:[ACS Omega] Highly Impact-Resistant Block Polymer-Based Thermoplastic Elastomers with an Ionically Functionalized Rubber Phase

University Journal Online Editorial Department

This is the online editorial department of the university journal.
Articles are written by editorial staff who have a high level of knowledge and interest in universities and education.