TOKYO—JSR Corp. has developed a new styrene butadiene copolymer rubber for automotive tires that it claims can significantly improve mechanical strength and wear resistance, compared to conventional SBR.
Developed to meet the demands of future mobility, the new rubber combines JSR's polymerisation and hydrogenation technologies to control the number of unsaturated bonds in the material.
Through this process, JSR said in a statement, it is possible to optimize the interactions among polymer molecules and minimize the stress produced in crosslinking.
"As a result, this new SBR has not only approximately two times the mechanical strength of conventional SBR, but also exceeds the strength of natural rubber," the Japanese materials supplier said.
According to JSR, tires using the new material as the tread compound rubber have demonstrated more than 50 percent better wear resistance along with low fuel consumption and grip performance, compared to tires made with conventional SBR.
JSR will present the material during the International Elastomer Conference held in Cleveland Oct. 8-10.