News release
New Nanoprene development from LANXESS
Tire service life extended
Nano additive reduces wear
Leverkusen – Specialty chemicals group LANXESS has developed a
new high-performance rubber additive – Nanoprene. This material
additive for the rubber mixture of the tire tread significantly cuts wear in
automobile tires. The much longer service life of the tire as a wearing
part is easy on the wallet and the environment. Unlike with many new
developments in the tire rubber sector, use of this additive to enhance
wear resistance does not in any way impact on rolling resistance or wet
grip.
“Boosting tire service life without losing other key tread properties was a
major challenge for the rubber industry,” explains Nanoprene developer
Prof. Werner Obrecht, rubber expert at the LANXESS Technical Rubber
Products (TRP) business unit. “Despite all the positive developments of
the last 20 years, after traveling around 40,000 kilometers, the tread
pattern is normally worn and new tires are then needed. This is not only
annoying for the customer, since the fine rubber particles created by the
tire wear ultimately end up in the environment.” The wear properties of a
tire rubber are linked to its wet grip and rolling resistance through the
“magic triangle of tire technology.” To put it simply, it is not possible to
have everything at once, i.e. low fuel consumption, reliability on dry and
wet roads and a tire that lasts forever. If improvement is desired for one
of these properties, this is not feasible without making concessions on
the others.
Nanoprene reduces this conflict of objectives. In chemical terms, this
additive consists of particles of only around 50 nanometers made from
polymerized styrene and butadiene – i.e. “traditional” tire rubber raw
materials. What makes all the difference is the minimal size and surface
functionality ensured by a highly specialized production process at
LANXESS. The nanoparticles with the swell-resistant, highly crosslinked core have special “anchor points” on their surface, enabling the
LANXESS AG
Contact: Michael Fahrig
Corporate Communications
Market Communications
Trade & Technical Press
51369 Leverkusen
Germany
Phone +49 214 30-45041
Fax +49 214 30-44865
michael.fahrig@lanxess.com
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Nanoprene particles to be perfectly linked with silica and silanes. Silica
is deployed in modern tires instead of carbon black to cut rolling
resistance and gives tires excellent wet grip. “Adding Nanoprene to a
tread mix containing silica improves wear resistance and grip. At the
same time, rolling resistance remains at a low level. The “magic triangle”
is therefore extended,” says Prof. Obrecht, highlighting the physical and
chemical relationships.
The use of Nanoprene does not entail disadvantages on the process
engineering side. Tire manufacturers can, unlike with most “traditional”
additives, retain their tried and tested rubber formulations and yet
significantly cut wear caused by abrasion. “Nanoprene may be viewed
very much as a sort of spice that makes a good recipe even better,”
says Obrecht. Even the form in which the new product is supplied will be
familiar to users. The additive produced by LANXESS at the emulsion
rubber production plant in La Wantzenau, France, arrives at the
customer in bale form as with any tire rubber. All that has to be done is
to optimize the sequence and timing for adding additives and to adapt to
the mixing equipment used to enable Nanoprene to deliver the optimal
effect. Users can request support for this from LANXESS.
The first products with this additive are already on the market.
Nanoprene is currently undergoing extensive tests at selected tire
manufacturers. The Nanoprene product range will be expanded in the
near future with further grades that vary, for example, in terms of their
glass transition temperature – i.e. their low-temperature flexibility – and
are thus even better suited to specific types of tire. “With Nanoprene, we
haven’t just succeeded in making a specialty product out of ordinary
SBR tire rubber,” explains Obrecht. “This innovation sees us living up to
our reputation as a premium supplier and technology leader in the
industry.”
Together with LANXESS’s Rhein Chemie business unit, TRP is opening
up further application areas for Nanoprene. These include impact
resistance modification for thermoplastics and thermosetting plastics.
Work is also under way to develop a specific Nanoprene grade for fuel
cell membranes. LANXESS has created numerous patents during the
development of Nanoprene which are already applied for patent
protection worldwide.
LANXESS AG
Contact: Michael Fahrig
Corporate Communications
Market Communications
Trade & Technical Press
51369 Leverkusen
Germany
Phone +49 214 30-45041
Fax +49 214 30-44865
michael.fahrig@lanxess.com
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LANXESS is a leading specialty chemical company, with sales of EUR 6.94 billion in 2006
and some 14,500 employees in 21 countries around the world. The company has operations
at 47 sites worldwide. LANXESS’s core business comprises the development, manufacture
and sale of specialty chemicals, plastics, rubber and intermediates.
LANXESS AG
Contact: Michael Fahrig
Corporate Communications
Market Communications
Trade & Technical Press
51369 Leverkusen
Germany
Leverkusen,
alb/fah
Phone +49 214 30-45041
Fax +49 214 30-44865
michael.fahrig@lanxess.com
January 14, 2008
(2008-0007E)
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and
forecasts made by LANXESS AG management. Various known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future
results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates
given here. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking
statements or to conform them to future events or developments.
Note to editors:
All LANXESS news releases and accompanying photo, video and audio material can be
found on http://press.lanxess.com.
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