Leverkusen - The Technical Rubber Products business unit of specialty chemicals group LANXESS AG is one of the leading providers of special elastomers for the rubber processing industry.

The rubbers supplied by this business unit provide solutions for an extraordinarily broad range of applications where “conventional” rubbers simply don’t make the grade. Examples include nitrile rubbers that have a considerably higher resistance to oil than conventional rubbers, and hydrogenated nitrile rubbers that additionally demonstrate a better resistance to ozone, UV light, hot air and long-term aging. Ethylene-propylene-[diene] rubbers from LANXESS are resistant to many polar solvents. Due to their resistance to weathering, they are used primarily in outdoor applications such as roof sheeting and sealing profiles for buildings and vehicles. Heat-resistant ethylene vinyl acetate rubbers from LANXESS can absorb large volumes of special fillers and are therefore used to manufacture high-quality cable sheathing that displays excellent fire retardance. Due to a particularly balanced combination of many desirable properties, polychloroprene rubbers from LANXESS serve as an economic “workhorse” in a number of challenging rubber applications such as fabric-reinforced hoses, foam rubber, drive belts, and conveyor belts.

The industries supplied by the business unit are correspondingly diverse. Its rubbers are used for functional parts in the automotive industry, in gas/oil exploration and production, mechanical engineering and the construction and adhesives industries. Some rubbers are also used to modify plastics.

The Technical Rubber Products business unit is part of LANXESS’s Performance Polymers segment, which recorded sales of EUR 3.28 billion in fiscal 2008. It is headed by Günther Weymans.

Key brands and products

Baypren®: Polychloroprene rubber (CR) as a solid rubber for air spring bellows, hoses and belts and a latex for the manufacture of adhesives.

Buna® EP: Ethylene-propylene-[diene] rubber (EP[D]M) with varying diene content, very low density, good resistance to heat, oxidation, chemicals and weathering, and good electrical insulation properties.

Therban®: Hydrogenated nitrile rubber (HNBR), resistant to oil and chemicals, outstanding dynamic properties, durable even at high temperatures.

Levapren®/Levamelt®/Baymod® L: Ethylene vinyl acetate rubbers (EVM) from LANXESS are saturated rubbers with a vinyl acetate content of between 40 and 70 (or 90) percent. They can be used in constant temperatures of up to 175 °C. Their polarity can be adjusted across a broad range to create good miscibility with many polymers and variable adhesion to different surfaces.

Perbunan®/Krynac®/Baymod® N: Oil-resistant nitrile rubbers with an acrylonitrile content of between 18 and 50 percent. Specialty grades such as Krynac® X demonstrate outstanding abrasion values.

Sites

Leverkusen, Dormagen, Marl (all Germany), La Wantzenau (France), Orange (United States). The business unit’s research center is in Dormagen while application centers are located in Leverkusen and Shanghai (China).

Detailed information can be found at:
www.therban.de, www.levapren.de, www.levamelt.de,
www.buna-ep.de, www.baypren.com
http://techcenter.lanxess.com/trp