Analysis of Surface Transfer Phenomenon of Lubricating Components in TPE for Boots

Lubricants such as wax and grease are used to improve adhesion, frictional properties, and sliding noise of thermoplastic elastomer (hereafter referred to as TPE) products used for automotive parts. These lubricants help improve the lubrication of products when added to TPE products or applied directly to the surface. Long-term effectiveness can be expected from the former method due to the gradual movement of the lubricant from the inside to the surface. Clarifying this transfer phenomenon should therefore be very important for predicting and controlling product characteristics. This paper reports on an analysis method applying infrared spectroscopy developed by the authors, and investigations conducted on the surface transfer of lubricants such as wax and grease for polyester TPE used for CVJ boots.