Leverkusen - 100 years ago, chemist Fritz Hofmann invented the first ever synthetic rubber. The elastic all-rounder went on to revolutionize the world as we know it, and – as a key component in all modern high-performance tires – it is still keeping it moving today. Artificial rubber has also become irreplaceable in its role as a sealing and insulating material – whether as a pressure and temperature-resistant rubber seal in a washing machine, as the core of a golf ball or in challenging technical applications such as V-belts or conveyor belts.

“Synthetic rubber has made the world mobile. Without artificial rubber materials, none of the billion or so cars in the world today would be able to drive down the road, nor would any aircraft make it into the sky”, says Dr. Werner Breuers, member of the Board of Management at the German specialty chemicals group LANXESS. The group is successfully continuing the work of Fritz Hofmann, who was employed by “Elberfelder Farbenfabriken vorm. Friedrich Bayer & Co.” when he developed his invention. The LANXESS portfolio comprises far in excess of 100 different grades of synthetic rubber, which are used in a whole range of applications. Chemists and technicians in LANXESS’s laboratories worldwide are committed to carrying Hofmann’s legacy into the future and to working closely with customers to develop new applications.

More than a substitute

When on September 12, 1909, the Imperial Patents Office in Berlin granted Farbenfabriken vorm. Friedrich Bayer & Co. the patent for Hofmann’s “process for manufacturing artificial rubber”, he could never have imagined the significance his discovery would have for the modern world. His discovery was initially intended as a substitute for natural rubber and a means of counteracting the rising prices of rubber tree extract. But today, synthetic rubber is far more than a substitute. The engineering world uses a multitude of special-purpose rubbers for applications in all aspects of day-to-day life. Through decades of research and development work, Hofmann’s successors have succeeded in developing the material for a huge spectrum of applications, ensuring it retains its stability and reliability even under extreme conditions. To this day, LANXESS continues to register numerous patents in the rubber sector every year, which proves that this flexible all-rounder still has a great deal more to offer.

Global rubber research for new innovations

Every day, the company’s research centers in Germany, North and South America, and China work tirelessly to develop and evolve a whole range of high-tech rubbers and secure the future of this versatile material. What’s more, as one of the world’s leading manufacturers of synthetic rubber, LANXESS is continuously expanding its global rubber research network. Most recently, it established a new research center in the Chinese city of Qingdao and initiated a collaboration with Chinese research institutes in Beijing and Shanghai.

“High-tech rubber-based products will continue to play a key role in our daily lives in the future. The potential of the material is far from exhausted”, adds Werner Breuers. Breuers also believes that a transparent rubber could be just around the corner. Such a material would allow diffused light to permeate through it without casting shadows and could, for example, be used in architecture, or even as a means of lighting up the connecting sections of articulated buses. Specialists in dentistry are also experimenting with the use of rubber as an additive in fillings. The material is even used in preventive measures to protect against earthquakes, with structures such as bridges being built on rubber.

Dedicated website for World Rubber Day

To honor Hofmann’s revolutionary invention as synthetic rubber reaches its 100th anniversary, LANXESS has founded the first ever World Rubber Day. Says Breuers: “Rubber, the all-rounder, is to finally step out from the wings and take center stage. That is why we are planning a whole range of activities at our rubber sites around the world for the coming months and of course for the anniversary itself, September 12, 2009. We hope to make the diverse range of applications boasted by synthetic rubber accessible to a broad public.” The world of synthetic rubber, in all its multi-faceted glory, awaits discovery at www.worldrubberday.com or www.weltkautschuktag.de. Visitors to the site can learn about everything ranging from the history of this unique product and its everyday and more obscure applications – many of which are often hidden from view – to pioneering innovations for cutting-edge and reliable high-performance tires.