English Abstract
Recent Technological Trends of Styrene-butadiene Rubber
Takaaki MATSUDA
Plastics Research & Development Center, Synthetic Rubber development Department, Asahi Kasei Chemicals Corporation, Kanagawa, Japan
Nippon Gomu Kyokaishi,(2005),78(2),46-50 General Review in Japanese


Abstract
To date, various kinds of styrene-butadiene rubber have been used in various industrial materials. These SBRs are manufactured by emulsion polymerization (radical polymerization) or solution polymerization (anionic polymerization).
Anionic polymerization technique has characteristics that can design SBR structure easily. The most remarkable technology of S-SBR is to be able to introduce the functional group into SBR terminal easily. By using this technique, various modified SBRs are developed and placed on the market. Silica-filled rubber compounds show low hysteresis loss in comparison with carbon black-filled rubber compounds, and silica has been recognized as a notable filler for high performance tires with good wet grip and low rolling resistance and it is used in all over the world as reinforcing filler for tire tread. Recently, modified S-SBRs are actively developed in order to apply silica composition to tire treads material. Introduction technology of functional group draws attention as technology, which brings out the characteristic of reinforcing filler (silica, carbon black, etc.) filled composite materials. Also new modified S-SBR will be developed in future.

Keywords:
styrene-butadiene rubber, modification, anionic polymerization, silica-filled compound,
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