Many people have a vague concept of TPU and TPE. Although both are thermoplastic elastomer materials, and they differ by only one letter, there are some differences in performance. Here, I will teach you how to distinguish TPU and TPE.
　　 1. Pinch with your hands
　　 TPE elastic recovery is slower, TPU elastic recovery is faster, because the material structure of TPU is a uniform polymer structure, which belongs to polymer resin. TPE is a multi-phase structure polymer alloy material mixed with multiple components. High-hardness TPE processing is prone to deformation, TPU shows excellent elasticity in all hardness intervals, and the product is not easy to deform. If the hand is not easy to handle, you can use the clamp and keep it for 24 hours so that you can more easily see how easy it is to recover.
　　 2. Feel it with your hands
　　 In terms of feel, TPE feels more delicate, and TPU feels rough. A little difference can be reflected from their hardness. TPE is a medium-low hardness and has better tactile comfort. TPU has medium-to-high hardness, and has better elasticity and strength.
　　3. Burn it with fire
　　 When the flame is yellow and blue, it burns with fire. TPE burns, there are slight bubbles at the bottom of the flame, and the smell is a special aromatic smell with petroleum (petroleum smell is the burning smell of PP component). When the TPU burns, the flame is basically yellow, and the bottom of the flame is very foamy. There is a slight explosion sound and a certain pungent smell.
　　 4. Take a look with your eyes
　　 Although most products of TPE and TPU are black, there are also transparent products. For transparent products, TPU is superior to TPE in transparency and is not as viscous as transparent TPE.
　　 The above are 4 simple ways to identify TPE and TPU, for reference only. The so-called real knowledge practice, only a lot of practice can have a deeper understanding of the subtle differences. Learning to distinguish them will help us choose better and more suitable materials for our products.