Increased use of polyurethane in footwear
Founder of UK-based Steve Lee Associates, Steve Lee spoke at both footwear technical sessions at the global Polyurethanes Conference 2006, held on September 25-27, in
The conference’s footwear technical session included several presentations. Spain-based Synthesia Española presented developments in new polyester polyols for low-density PU shoe soles. US-based GE Advanced Materials unveiled a series of improved catalyst and surfactant additives for low-density, water-blown microcellular PU foams for shoe soles. Dow Chemical’s Italy-based footwear development centre introduced a new family of thermoset polyester PU polymers with enhanced hydrolysis resistance for footwear; and scientists from Germany-based DESMA presented new methods for combining different materials in two-layer soles.
During the second footwear technical session of the conference, scientists from UK-based Uniqema presented novel technology for polyester PU soles with improved hydrolysis resistance. Representatives from US-based Huntsman Polyurethanes highlighted a new family of lightweight expanded thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs) that exhibit improved flex life, wear resistance and slip resistance in shoe sole applications. A second paper by DESMA scientists presented a lower density TPU for shoe soles with reduced cycle times, which was developed with Sulzer Chemtech of
