Tailor-Made Thermoplastic Polyurethanes for the Shoe Industry

Part design:

For applications in sports & leisure industry the Desmopan ® product family offers transparent aromatic grades, highly abrasion-resistant and aliphatic light-stable variations. Besides, these products are free of plasticizers and halogen.

The polyether-based aliphatic TPU grades are ideal for manufacturing sports shoe soles. They are lightfast and can therefore also be produced in bright, fashionable colors. They also combine low density, high elasticity and flexibility, allowing the production of thinner shoe soles with less weight. A further benefit is their excellent adhesion to most materials that are used to produce sports shoes. This combination of properties offers a new, superior alternative to polyether block amides in this market segment.

The abrasion-resistant Desmopan® grades were specially designed for the injection molding process of sports shoe soles and sport shoe studs. However, they are also suitable for standard shoe applications as, for example, ladies shoe heels. The polyester-based TPU products are UV-stabilized, resistant to hydrolysis and have hardnesses from 85 Shore A to 53 Shore D.

Further advantages of these materials are:
- Cost-effective production with short cycle times: the produced parts can be easily removed from the mold even with large wall thicknesses.
- Reduced abrasion loss: up to 30 percent compared to standard grades