What Is Synthetic Rubber?

Synthetic rubber, also known as synthetic elastomer, is a highly elastic polymer that is artificially synthesized and is one of the three major synthetic materials. Its output is only lower than synthetic resin (or plastic) and synthetic fibers. The classification methods are diverse, with a long history of development, and have broad research prospects.

Broadly refers to the rubber made by chemical methods to distinguish from rubber produced from rubber trees

Its performance varies from monomer to monomer, and the performance of a few varieties is similar to that of natural rubber. Some synthetic rubbers have better temperature resistance, wear resistance, aging resistance and resistance than natural rubber.

Synthetic rubber is made of different monomers

The production of synthetic rubber is not restricted by geographical conditions. From a traditional perspective, it is divided into two categories: general synthetic rubber and special synthetic rubber according to the performance, scope and quantity of synthetic rubber. After vulcanization processing can be made into various rubber products. According to the chemical structure, it can be divided into olefins, diolefins and elemental organics.

There are many ways to classify synthetic rubber.

The production process of synthetic rubber can be roughly divided into the synthesis and purification of monomers, the polymerization process and the post-rubber

Synthetic rubber general rubber

SBR

Styrene butadiene rubber is produced by copolymerizing butadiene and styrene. It is the most versatile synthetic rubber.

synthetic rubber

Rubber, solvent-polymerized styrene-butadiene rubber, and thermoplastic rubber (SBS).

Butadiene rubber

It is produced by solution polymerization of butadiene. Butadiene rubber has particularly excellent cold resistance, abrasion resistance and elasticity, and also has good aging resistance. Butadiene rubber is mostly used in the production of tires, and a small part is used in the manufacture of cold-resistant products, cushioning materials, tapes, rubber shoes, etc. The disadvantages of butadiene rubber are poor tear resistance and poor wet skid resistance.

Isoprene

Isoprene is an abbreviation of polyisoprene rubber, which is produced by solution polymerization. Isoprene rubber, like natural rubber, has good elasticity and abrasion resistance, excellent heat resistance and good chemical stability. Isoprene rubber raw rubber (before processing) has significantly lower strength than natural rubber, but its quality uniformity and processing performance are better than natural rubber. Isoprene rubber can be used instead of natural rubber to make truck tires and off-road tires. It can also be used to produce various rubber products.

Ethylene propylene rubber

Ethylene-propylene rubber is synthesized with ethylene and propylene as main raw materials, and has outstanding aging resistance, electrical insulation performance and ozone resistance performance. Ethylene propylene

synthetic rubber

The rubber can be filled with a large amount of oil and carbon black, the product price is low, the ethylene-propylene rubber has good chemical stability, and the abrasion resistance, elasticity, and oil resistance are close to those of styrene-butadiene rubber. Ethylene-propylene rubber has a wide range of uses. It can be used as tire sidewalls, rubber strips and inner tubes, and parts of automobiles. It can also be used as wires, cable covers, and high-voltage and ultra-high-voltage insulation materials. Can also make rubber shoes, sanitary products and other light-colored products.

Neoprene

It uses chloroprene as the main raw material and is made by homopolymerization or copolymerization of a small amount of other monomers. Such as high tensile strength, heat resistance, light resistance, aging resistance, oil resistance are better than natural rubber, styrene butadiene rubber, butadiene rubber. It has strong flame resistance, excellent flame retardancy, high chemical stability and good water resistance. The disadvantages of neoprene are its electrical insulation properties, poor cold resistance, and instability of raw rubber during storage. Neoprene has a wide range of applications, such as the production of sheathing materials for transportation belts and transmission belts, wires and cables, oil-resistant hoses, gaskets, and chemical-resistant equipment linings. ^[3]

Synthetic rubber special rubber

Nitrile rubber

Nitrile rubber is made from butadiene and acrylonitrile through emulsion polymerization. Nitrile rubber is mainly used at low temperature.

synthetic rubber

Production, excellent oil resistance, high wear resistance, good heat resistance, strong adhesion. Its disadvantages are poor low temperature resistance, poor ozone resistance, poor electrical properties and slightly lower elasticity. Nitrile rubber is mainly used to make oil-resistant rubber products.

Butyl rubber

Butyl rubber is made by copolymerizing isobutylene with a small amount of isoprene. It is mainly produced by slurry method. Low air permeability, excellent air tightness, good heat resistance, ozone resistance, aging resistance, good chemical stability and electrical insulation. The disadvantages of butyl rubber are slow vulcanization speed, poor elasticity, strength, and tackiness. The main use of butyl rubber is to manufacture various vehicle inner tubes, which are used to make wires and cable covers, heat-resistant conveyor belts, steam hoses, and the like.

fluororubber

Fluorine rubber is a synthetic rubber containing fluorine atoms. It has excellent heat resistance, oxidation resistance, oil resistance and chemical resistance. It is mainly used in the aviation, chemical, petroleum, automotive and other industrial sectors. Materials and insulation materials.

Silicone Rubber

Silicone rubber has a main chain formed by silicon and oxygen atoms. The side chain is a carbon-containing group. The most used is silicon with a vinyl side chain.

synthetic rubber

rubber. It is heat-resistant and cold-resistant, and its use temperature is between 100 300 . It has excellent weather resistance, ozone resistance and good insulation. The disadvantages are low strength, poor tear resistance and poor wear resistance. Silicone rubber is mainly used in aviation industry, electrical industry, food industry and medical industry.

Polyurethane

Polyurethane rubber is made by polymerizing polyester (or polyether) with diisocyanate. Good abrasion resistance, followed by good elasticity, high hardness, oil resistance and solvent resistance. The disadvantage is poor heat aging resistance. Polyurethane rubber is most widely used in the automotive, shoemaking, and machinery industries. ^[4]

Synthetic rubber automotive rubber

Automotive rubber parts play a significant role in anti-vibration, noise reduction, vehicle stability and ride comfort. The amount of general rubber materials used in automobiles is relatively large. However, with the development of high-power and miniaturized engines in recent years, the ambient temperature around the engine has increased, and the requirements for exhaust gas control regulations have become stricter. Rubber parts improve various properties such as heat resistance, cold resistance, oil resistance, and aging resistance. Therefore, the amount of high-performance special synthetic rubber

Increasingly, automobiles are the main market for these specialty synthetic rubbers. Therefore, the rubber grade of automotive rubber will develop towards special rubber with excellent performance.

The improvement of rubber raw materials has increased the service life of rubber parts. At present, the life of oil seals generally exceeds 250,000 kilometers.

synthetic rubber

Here, the fan belt has a life of 100,000 kilometers. According to the research and analysis of the British Dunlop company, in the future automotive industry, acrylic rubber has the most prospects for development, and the use of fluorine rubber, silicone rubber, ethylene-propylene-diene rubber, chloroether rubber, and polyurethane rubber is also increasing.

At present, auto parts made of acrylic rubber mainly include engine oil seals, cylinder head gaskets, oil cooler hoses, exhaust hoses, gearboxes, oil seals and various O-rings. Fluoroplastic parts used in automobiles include water pump seals, valve stem seals, crankshaft oil seals, single valve diaphragms, rubber hoses, and gas ring O-ring seals. It is expected that, with the exception of cylinder gaskets, various gaskets may eventually be made of silicone rubber.

China's special rubber for automobiles has few specifications, unstable quality, and poor process performance, and cannot meet the demand for automotive rubber. Especially the rubber raw materials required for the localization of imported rubber products for vehicles are lacking, and only rely on imports. Imported 7 kinds of rubber such as acrylate rubber, EPDM rubber, hydrogenated butyl rubber, oil-resistant silicone rubber, butyl rubber, thermoplastic rubber and fluorine rubber. ^[4]