What is the difference between TPE and LSR?

In the fields of industrial design and manufacturing, thermoplastic elastomers TPE and liquid silicone rubber LSR are gradually replacing natural rubber as the preferred materials for many professionals. To make an informed choice between the two and achieve product design goals with higher cost-effectiveness, the primary task is to thoroughly understand their core differences. Below, Zhongsu Wang TPE manufacturer will break down the distinctions between the two from a practical application perspective.

Key distinctions are as follows:

1. Tactile Performance

TPE can impart diverse tactile sensations to product surfaces, including silky smoothness, slight tackiness, or textured grip. LSR, conversely, exhibits a dry, smooth, and soft feel, closely resembling human skin. Additionally, LSR demonstrates superior surface texture fidelity, capable of reproducing intricate mold patterns with greater precision.

2. Color and Functional Compatibility

Both TPE and LSR support full-spectrum color customization, enabling transparent, translucent, and opaque visual effects. LSR excels in dust resistance, making it ideal for applications demanding high surface cleanliness, such as wearable devices. TPE, however, offers greater color versatility beyond basic hues, enabling special decorative effects like metallic finishes, pearlescent shades, wood grain patterns, and marble textures to meet diverse custom design requirements.

3. Molding and Structural Design Compatibility

Regarding molding characteristics, LSR exhibits outstanding flowability, easily filling areas with varying wall thicknesses within molds. It achieves complete filling even for long, thin structural sections inside molds. In contrast, while TPE can reduce material viscosity under high shear processing conditions, its overall flowability is weaker. Full mold filling requires an “extrusion” approach, particularly when the formulation hardness exceeds Shore 50A.

Therefore, when designing parts using TPE, it is essential to maintain uniform wall thickness and avoid sharp corners to minimize molding defects.

In summary, the differences between TPE material and LSR can be systematically distinguished across three core dimensions: design compatibility (e.g., structure, color effects), production processing (e.g., molding difficulty, flowability), and performance characteristics (e.g., tactile feel, dust resistance). This framework enables practitioners to make appropriate choices based on specific product requirements.