What is an Elastomer?

The term "elastomer" describes the material's property of being highly mouldable already under low pressure and of springing back into its original form when the pressure is released. Although plastic materials are also highly mouldable under low pressure, they remain moulded after pressure release.
Therefore, the term "elastomer" describes the material's most vital property without expanding on material-specific characteristics. High elasticity can be achieved by very different materials.
In plastics technology, three essential groups are distinguished:

• chemically crosslinked elastomers thermoplastic elastomers silicones

The basic structure of all three elastomer groups consists of long molecular chains whose basic structure and sidechains determine particular properties.
The molecular chains are movably connected at room temperature and can slide along each other in the elastomer's basic form.