The Use of Ethylene/Styrene Interpolymers in Crosslinked Foams for the Footwear Industry

Ethylene/Styrene Interpolymers (ESI) currently under development by The Dow Chemical Company can be effectively crosslinked using current commercial equipment to produce extruded sheets, bun foams, and injection molded foams (IMF) for footwear parts providing properties that enhance and/or outperform current foams of crosslinked ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers (EVA). Crosslinked EVA foams with density ranging from 0.12 to 0.35 g/cc are becoming increasingly popular in many athletic, ladies high heel, and casual shoes for the fabrication of insoles, midsoles, and unisoles, where light weight, comfort, aesthetics, low cost, and performance are the key. ESIs can be blended with EVA or used pure to give light weight, softer foams with better compression set while maintaining or improving on resiliency, heat shrinkage, and split tear.