BR
The BR family of polybutadiene rubber helps optimize tire compositions, improving grip, fuel economy, and overall lifetime. They provide a great balance between processability and performance.
Emulsion Styrene Butadiene Rubber
ARLANXEO offers a broad range of E-SBR grades known globally as Buna® SE. It's an all-purpose synthetic rubber that can easily be blended with any other rubber into compounds that process and vulcanize homogeneously. So E-SBR's have excellent processability.
E-SBR is predominantly used for the production of passenger car and light truck tires as well as truck re-treading compounds.
Repairing rubber cracking under pressure
Did you know that Emulsion Styrene Butadiene Rubber (E-SBR) is the most widely used rubber in the world? It represents an imposing 40% of the synthetic rubber market.
What's the secret of E-SBR's success? It results from its excellent balance of properties, processability, versatility, and cost performance compared to other types of rubbers. Applications for E-SBR rubber polymer include tires, treads, shoe soles, belts, flooring, conveyor belts, industrial hoses, adhesives, and a broad spectrum of other rubber goods.
Buna® SE is the trade name of ARLANXEO’s E-SBR products. E-SBR is manufactured by emulsion polymerization of butadiene and styrene. It's often used as a replacement for natural rubber. E-SBR offers good abrasion resistance and crack endurance.
For those reasons, it's commonly used for the production of passenger and light truck tires. It also serves as a cost-efficient way to enhance the lifetime of truck tires through retreading compounds.
Improving roads: Using polymers for asphalt modification
The development of asphalt emulsions consisting of E-SBR Latex allowed the research and employment of new surface treatment techniques, designated as cold asphalt micro-surfacing, in fast-moving roads.
The use of polymers also increases the asphalt binder's elastic recovery and, consequently, the flexibility and durability of thin asphalt surfaces. The rapid execution means a faster release of the roads under maintenance or construction to regular traffic.
Foam production and other applications
In addition to asphalt modification to increase pavement durability and reducing deformations, other notable applications for E-SBR Latex are molded and laminated foam production. There is a wide variety of foamed polymers in different structures. Their combination of elasticity, dimensional stability, high strength, and low density makes these materials ideal for construction, packaging, recreation, sports, automotive, and footwear industries.
We can also thank E-SBR Latex molded foams for a good night’s sleep as they are widely used in the production of mattresses and pillows.
Specific grades such as Buna® SE 1502 H and L are non-oil and non-staining solutions used for non-slip matting and fabric impregnation to produce light-colored rubber articles like footwear insoles. Its excellent color stability and pigmentation possibilities are enabling a wide range of applications in this field.
Related Topics
S-SBR
The tire industry is the main market segment for S-SBR. S-SBR offers improved wet grip and reduced rolling resistance — which translate to greater safety and better fuel economy.
Buna
ARLANXEO’s portfolio includes butadiene rubber products, branded as Buna, which are used in the tire industry and several non-tire applications like medical and pharmaceutical, gum, and plastic modification.