Novel Styrenic-Block-Copolymers for medical tubing

A new family of styrenic block copolymers (TPE-S) is well suited as a viable alternative to plasticized, soft PVC. These Enhanced Rubber Segment (ERS) grades are highly compatible with polypropylenes hence only requiring limited mixing capacity in an injection molding machine or extruder. By dry-blending an ERS grade with any type of polypropylene, a wide variety of plasticizer free polymer blends is achievable. Kraton G1645 polymer is a USP Class VI and ISO 10993 approved ERS grade; its use is demonstrated in combination with random copolymer polypropylene resulting in flexible, kink resistance tubing material comparable with plasticized PVC.