TPE scores points in pickleball and AI toys

Kraiburg TPE, a global manufacturer of TPEs and customised material solutions for various industries offers the specialised TPE compounds such as the Thermolast R series, a sustainable TPE material solution and soft surface TPE material with exceptional properties for comfortable, durable, and high-performance products; and Thermolast K soft-touch TPE materials, which deliver a velvety soft surface along with robust mechanical performance for smart educational toy components such as grips, buttons, housings, and design elements.

Play green, perform better with Thermolast R for pickleball

Pickleball is a fast-growing paddle sport that combines elements of tennis, badminton, and table tennis into a fun and accessible game for all ages. Equipment makers understand the importance of using advanced materials like TPE to score points in providing comfort and usability while meeting sustainability standards for recreational products and consumer goods.

Sustainability at play - Thermolast R series contains 9% to 35% post-consumer recycled (PCR) content, depending on hardness. In pickleball applications, Thermolast R recycled content TPE compounds may be considered as a material option, offering a balance of function, feel, and sustainability.

Soft touch and colourability advantage - Thermolast R compounds provide a soft and smooth feel that enhances grip comfort while maintaining a clean surface. Available in natural and translucent colours, this non-sticky grip TPE series can also be pre-coloured in a wide range of shades, offering design flexibility. These properties make Thermolast R suitable for a broad range of consumer products. Typical applications include handles and grips, functional and design elements, toothbrush, razors, toys, household articles, and seals for housings.

Top-notch adhesion and design flexibility - The Thermolast R series exhibits excellent adhesion to polypropylene (PP), a widely used plastic in sports equipment. This property allows manufacturers to design overmoulded handles or functional components without additional adhesives. The material also offers optimised mechanical properties and temperature stability up to 80 °C, ensuring consistent performance across various environments and usage conditions. Additionally, it provides manufacturers with an efficient processing advantage through injection moulding, enabling high-volume production with dependable quality.

Thermolast K for AI educational toys 

Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the game in educational toys, turning them into adaptive, interactive companions such as interactive robots, companion-style toys, AI-powered storytelling devices, and voice-enabled plush toys that respond to a child’s pace, interests, and performance in real time. Designed for frequent, close interaction, these products benefit from the soft-touch features of materials TPEs, which provide a comfortable, skin-friendly feel and make toys easier to handle. The tactile quality of TPEs as AI educational toys materials encourages longer use for effective learning.

Raising the bar on tactile performance - Thermolast K delivers a soft, velvety surface in AI-enabled educational toys and resists sebum, sunscreen, and grease, keeping them comfortable, clean, and tactile for users. This TPE also features abrasion and scratch resistance to preserve surface quality after repeated use, while their optimised mechanical properties ensure durable, long-lasting components.

Superior material adhesion for design flexibility -Thermolast K compounds exhibit excellent TPE adhesion to commonly used engineering plastics such as PA6, PA12, PC, ABS, PC/ABS, ASA, and SAN, enabling manufacturers to create reliable multi-material components through injection moulding and integrate the materials efficiently into modern production processes.Available in natural colours, Thermolast K is ideal for key design elements in interactive toys, including soft-touch push buttons and switches, protective housings for electronic modules, comfortable grips for handheld devices, and other functional parts and accents.

Meeting safety benchmarks - Thermolast Kcomplies with material safety standards, including UL 94 HB classification, and has been tested according to ISO 10993-10, confirming their suitability for applications involving regular skin contact. With a halogen content (chlorine + bromine) below 900 ppm, the compounds ensure safety for use in modern consumer products.

Sustainability from the get-go

At Kraiburg TPE, sustainability drives our innovation. Our portfolio includes bio-based TPEs and compounds with post-consumer (PCR) and post-industrial (PIR) recycled content. Selected TPEs are certified under GRS and ISCC PLUS. We also provide Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) data upon request to support sustainability decisions.We proudly earned the EcoVadis Gold Medal in 2025 and are committed to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), aligning our goals with global climate action.From reducing emissions to increasing circularity, our sustainable TPEs deliver reliable performance and are available worldwide to support your applications while advancing your sustainability goals. (Press Release)

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