The most important butadiene based elastomers employed in the automotive industry

Abstract

Elastomer copolymers based on butadiene are widely applied in the automotive industry. Among those copolymers the most important ones are styrene-butadiene (SBR) and nitrile-butadiene (NBR). SBR presents higher commercial interest, due to its application in the tire production. When SBR is mixed with high cis-1,4 polybutadiene, excellent properties are attained for application on the pneumatics treads. NBR can be used in a wide variety of application areas requiring oil, fuel, and chemical resistance. In the last years, the automotive and pneumatic industries have been increasingly concerned with environmental issues, and have invested in synthesis processes for elastomers that are less aggressive to the environment. Thus, the purpose of this article is to present a review on two important butadiene elastomer copolymers, SBR and NBR, with emphasis on the polymerization processes. The main characteristics, processing and applications of these elastomers are also presented.