DUESSELDORF, Germany—Although it has divested its rubber group into Arlanxeo, a joint venture with Saudi Aramco, Lanxess A.G. is still talking rubber at the K Show.
The company is touting products it makes to protect rubber against aging that is tailored to the specific stresses encountered. Lanxess' Advanced Industrial Intermediates business unit is showcasing several staining and non-staining antioxidants and antiozonants for the rubber industry.
Depending on their chemical structure, antioxidants and antiozonants counteract one or more aging processes, the company said.
Each antioxidant/antiozonant has a typical efficacy spectrum with regard to the various types of aging. According to Jens-Hendrik Fischer, head of AII's Antioxidants and Accelerators (AXX) unit, Lanxess offers “global support for the rubber processing industry with a wide-ranging selection of products.”
Those products include Vulkanox, Vulkacit, Vulkazon and Renacit brands.
Aging processes, primarily triggered by the effects of oxygen, ozone and heat, change the properties of vulcanizates and can lead to their partial or total destruction over time, the company said.
The resistance of rubber items to oxygen, ozone and other reactive substances depends on the elastomer on which the compound is based and on the chemicals added to retard the destructive process.
Natural rubber, used to make items such as tires, absorbs far more oxygen than SBR (styrene-butadiene rubber), NBR (nitrile-butadiene rubber) or IIR (butyl rubber) over the same period, the company said.
Unsaturated groups (such as carbon-carbon double bond content) in the rubber molecule react with oxygen and ozone, possible resulting in hardening, embrittlement, crazing effects and fatigue, destroying the rubber.
Lanxess is exhibiting 14 high-performance rubber chemicals for the rubber processing industry, which come in granule form, allowing for "low-dust metering and incorporation," according to Melanie Wiedemeier-Jarad, technical service manager in the AXX unit,
The company claims that its Vulkanox antioxidants and Vulkazon antiozonants significantly extend the lifespan of elastomers. As a result, the company said, items such as truck tires, technical rubber goods and fire hoses can remain in use and retain the required properties for longer.
AII said it has developed a highly effective peptizing agent in the form of wax granules called Renacit 11/WG that makes natural rubber easier to process by breaking down the molecular chains.
In addition to antidegradants, the AAI business unit is showcasing its Vulkacit vulcanization accelerators, which help to regulate the manufacture of rubber products. By interfering in the reaction between sulfur and the elastomer molecules that forms the basis of vulcanization, Lanxess claims that Vulkacit has a positive influence both on the speed of the crosslinking reaction and on the properties of the vulcanized products, which then combine tensile strength, elasticity, elongation at break and hardness with a longer service life.
The AII business unit manufactures industrial chemicals for producing agrochemicals, polymers and surface coatings, serving applications such as cosmetics, flavorings, fragrances, fuel additives, lubricants and construction chemicals.
AII generated sales of Euro 1.826 million in fiscal 2015.