Cabot expands E2C offerings for durability, sustainability

BOSTON—Cabot Corp. recently committed to becoming a change agent and set a goal to have net-zero emissions by 2050.

To help reach that goal, Cabot has expanded its Engineered Elastomer Composites (E2C) product line with the introduction of two new solutions, the E2C FX9570 and E2C EX9620 products.

Both are intended to provide rubber manufacturers with additional options to design products for high durability in demanding operating environments. In addition, the newest composites will help deliver improvements in durability and heat minimization that have benefits in off-the-road tires like aircraft and port tires, truck tires used on rough surfaces, as well as in other industrial rubber products exposed to severe wear conditions or high operating temperatures.

"Our Engineered Elastomer Composites (E2C) product line is a core element of our sustainability strategy for the tire and rubber industry and plays an essential role in enabling a lower carbon future," said David Reynolds, vice president and general manager of Cabot Engineered Elastomer Composites. "By enabling long-lasting and energy-efficient rubber products, we are making the most efficient use of raw materials, reducing downstream greenhouse gas emissions and reducing the number of end-of-life tires. In addition, by delivering pre-mixed composites to our customers, we are helping them reduce the energy requirements in their own operations."

Reynolds added that in 2020, Cabot launched its first set of E2C products targeted primarily at earthmover tire applications. Customers quickly found additional uses for the E2C line.

"As customers began working with these products, they quickly realized how our E2C platform can deliver truly unique and differentiated rubber properties, and formulated our products into a wider range of rubber products. Through that process, we ultimately identified a new set of performance challenges faced by our customers, and developed these products to offer a different performance signature," said Reynolds.

The company's E2C solutions offer three performance series—Durability, Efficiency and Foundation.

"Solutions in the Durability series are designed to reduce in-field failures, extend tire/compound life environments and maximize operational uptime," Reynolds said. "The solutions in our Efficiency series are designed for cool-running rubber compounds without other performance compromises. Furthermore, solutions in our Foundation series are designed to deliver multidimensional performance in a variety of applications."

Starting with Durability, Cabot's E2C FX9570 and E2C EX9620 solutions provide rubber manufacturers with additional options to design products for high durability in demanding operating environments.

The E2C EX9620 product is the first solution released in Cabot's Efficiency series and is designed to enable cool-running rubber compounds with strong resistance to abrasion and cutting. EX9620 is optimally deployed in applications where rubber products are subject to excessive heat loads caused by high operating speeds, heavy loads, long-duty cycles and/or high temperatures.

The E2C FX9570 product is part of the company's Foundation series and enables high rubber durability in rough environments where cutting and chipping is prevalent, and duty cycles demand higher heat resistance. FX9570 lowers heat build-up by up to 20 percent versus conventional compounds, the company said.

The customer response to the latest E2C solutions has spurred ideas for possible additional uses. The basic process of making rubber compounds has been around for many years and today, rubber compounders must work incredibly hard to squeeze additional performance from these conventional processes.

"When customers test our E2C products, they consistently tell us that the degree of performance improvement enabled by E2C is unmatched and that they want to apply the technology to a wider range of technical problems and applications," Reynolds said.

Cabot's E2C solutions enable rubber product manufacturers to simplify the commercialization of differentiated products through the availability of high-performance, pre-mixed composites delivered in an easy-to-handle product form. Enabled by proprietary process technology that mixes reinforcing agents into elastomers, E2C solutions can be integrated into the current production methods of rubber compounders without additional investment, enabling faster product development and more flexible innovation.

By improving product performance, E2C solutions also deliver economic and sustainability benefits for rubber product manufacturers and their customers, as Cabot said products made with E2C solutions have been demonstrated to last 15-30 percent longer than products made with conventional compounds and enable a more fuel-efficient operation by reducing energy loss in rubber components.

Additional types of products that can benefit from using the E2C FX9570 and EX9620 lines include those exposed to high operating temperatures, such as aircraft, port and earthmover tire treads; on-road truck tire treads used on mixed surfaces or in places where road infrastructure is underdeveloped and where the requirements include both durability and low rolling resistance; and industrial rubber product applications where energy efficiency and severe wear resistance are critical, such as in mining applications like slurry pump, hydro-cyclone and mill liners, screen panels and conveyor belt top covers.

"Our E2C product line is targeted at enabling sustainability across the rubber industry and durability is only one dimension," Reynolds said. "Our current products can also enable significant reduction in tire rolling resistance, improving vehicle fuel economy, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Future products will be focused on enabling these benefits in an even wider range of tire and industrial rubber products."

Cabot's E2C solutions family also includes the E2C DZ8650, E2C DX9730, E2C DX9640 and E2CFX9390 products. Recently, Cabot's E2C product line was named to European Rubber Journal's "Top 10 Elastomers for Sustainability" list for the second time. This list ranks the most important development projects focused on enhancing the sustainability of elastomers and rubber materials.

Cabot Corp. is a global specialty chemicals and performance materials company headquartered in Boston. The company is a leading provider of rubber and specialty carbons, engineered elastomer composites, inkjet colorants, masterbatches and conductive compounds, fumed silica and aerogel.