Overview of Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) including background, history, advantages, limitations and typical applications.

Background: Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) has been in use as a fabric coating material in the textile industry for over 30 years. Thermoplastic polyurethane's first application was as a replacement for PVC where the "look and feel" of PVC was of value but the performance of PVC was lacking in areas such as flex properties, plasticizer migration, abrasion resistance, low temperature properties, and cleanability.