Mar 01, 2017
Bridgestone Corporation announced the successful creation of a new synthetic isoprene rubber, which could develop due to precise control of the molecular structure using a novel polymerization catalyst. The Company believes that the new isoprene rubber can enhance the characteristics of durability and fuel efficiency of tires as compared to natural rubber. Furthermore, it can be produced on the basis of isoprene derived from renewable biomass. Practical use of new raw materials Bridgestone expects to achieve in the 2020s.
Isoprene rubber is usually made with lithium, titanium or neodymium catalysts. Designed Bridgestone gadolinium-catalyst (Gd) - an innovative solution. Although it was already known that Gd-catalysts have the potential to precisely control the molecular structure of isoprene rubber, previously it was necessary to take the process at a temperature below 0 ° C, while it makes the production process unworkable.
The newly developed Bridgestone Gd-catalyst allows its use at temperatures above 40 ° C and used in the production process efficiently. Moreover, the activity of the new catalyst is about 600 times higher as compared with the conventional gadolinium.