Leverkusen - The Performance Butadiene Rubbers business unit of specialty chemicals group LANXESS AG is an important manufacturer of versatile polybutadiene and very high-performance styrene butadiene rubbers (SSBR) that are produced using state-of-the-art solution polymerization processing (SSBR = “solution SBR”). The product portfolio of the Performance Butadiene Rubbers business unit also includes the “general purpose” rubber ESBR (“emulsion styrene-butadiene rubber”). These products make the business unit a recognized key supplier to the tire industry worldwide.

For decades, ESBR has been a classic tire rubber and one of the most widespread of all the polymers. LANXESS manufactures this elastomer using a particularly cost-effective process that has been optimized over the course of many decades. Polybutadiene grades from LANXESS are created in neodymium-, cobalt- and lithium-catalyzed processes. These grades too are used primarily in the manufacture of tires. Performance can be increased considerably due to a number of highly refined properties demonstrated by these rubbers. For example, neodymium polybutadiene rubbers from LANXESS have a higher elasticity than many other tire rubbers and also reduce tire abrasion, thus playing a significant role in making cars safer and more economical. The same is true of the cutting-edge SSBR rubbers from LANXESS used in the tread mix for high-performance tires. They reduce rolling resistance while also improving grip on wet roads.

In addition, a smaller proportion of the performance butadiene rubbers are used for plastics modification in the manufacture of high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) for injection molding applications, for example. Other areas of application include golf balls, shoe soles, conveyor belts and drive belts.

The Performance Butadiene Rubbers business unit is part of LANXESS’s Performance Polymers segment, which achieved total sales of EUR 3.28 billion in fiscal 2008. It is headed by Joachim Grub.

Key brands and products

Buna® CB and Taktene®: These polybutadiene rubbers have high elasticity, can withstand high dynamic loading and retain their properties even at low temperatures. When blended with natural rubber, Buna® CB and Taktene® reduce tire abrasion, the build-up of heat under dynamic loads and the tendency towards premature material fatigue and/or cracking. The properties of the rubber and its vulcanizates (the rubber goods it is used to produce) are strongly influenced by the production process and the catalyst used. The Buna® CB and Taktene® brands from LANXESS encompass a wide range of associated versions.

Buna® VSL: SSBR rubbers from LANXESS produced using the solution method. With this extremely flexible technology, a wide range of the elastomers’ key parameters – such as viscosity, molecular weight, molecular weight distribution, microstructure and the degree of branching in the polymer chain – can be influenced directly. This produces particularly versatile rubbers that boast many of the qualities that are in demand in the tire industry.
At LANXESS, emulsion styrene rubber (ESBR) continues to serve as a versatile “all-purpose product” for a range of applications. LANXESS, the pioneer in synthetic rubber, markets this product to the same high standards of quality and service that apply to the other high-performance elastomers from the PBR business unit.

Sites

Dormagen (Germany), Orange (United States), Port Jérôme (France) and Cabo, Duque de Caxias and Triunfo (all Brazil).

Detailed information can be found at: http://techcenter.lanxess.com/pbr