Breakthroughs have been made in key technologies for the industrialization of high - performance synthetic rubber

China National Petroleum Corporation announced that a breakthrough has been achieved in the national research and development program "Key Technologies for the Industrialization of High - performance Synthetic Rubber".On January 6, the project team completed the compilation of a kiloton - scale basic process data package for the butyl rubber branching agent with independent intellectual property rights, built the first domestic industrial pilot - scale unit for star - branched butyl rubber, and completed the water 联运 test, getting ready for startup.Aiming at the problems of low fuel - saving and safety levels of domestic tires, and the short service life of vulcanized bladders, the core components in tire manufacturing, the project addresses scientific issues such as the molecular design of functionalized solution - polymerized styrene - butadiene rubber and the control principle of its sequence structure, the dissociation mechanism of the active center of rare - earth catalysts, the mechanism of high - cis - 1,4 - oriented reversible chain - transfer polymerization of butadiene, and the primary/secondary bromination reaction mechanism of brominated butyl rubber in a micromixing flow field. It breaks through key technologies in molecular design and controllable synthesis of high - performance rubber materials, key equipment and engineering, as well as tire and bladder manufacturing formulations and production processes, thus realizing the industrialization of high - performance synthetic rubber.Up to now, the project has established the first domestic ten - thousand - ton - scale industrial production device for bromination of butyl rubber using micro - reaction technology, breaking the monopoly of multinational companies on core reaction equipment for halogenated butyl rubber and pioneering the application of micro - chemical technology in the synthetic rubber field. Moreover, it has developed a manufacturing formula and process for long - life vulcanized bladders, extending the service life of vulcanized bladders to 613 times, far exceeding the industry average of 400 times.

Source: C&EN China (https://www.ccin.com.cn/)