Butadiene Rubber

Butadiene rubber is supposed to be the most elastic rubber type. The chemical name of this rubber is Polybutadiene. This rubber is polymerized butadiene and usually used in combination with other rubber types. This rubber is the second largest volume synthetic rubber produced, after styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR). In 1999, the consumption was about 1,953,000 metric tons worldwide.

Application of Butadiene Rubber

A typical application is a blend of BR and natural rubber in truck tires. The major use of butadiene rubber is in tires with over 70% of the polymer produced going into sidewalls and treads. This rubber is usually combined with other elastomers like natural rubber or SBR for tread compounds. It also has a major application as an impact modifier for acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene resin (ABS) and polystyrene with about 25% of the total volume going into these applications.

Typically about 7% of this rubber is added to the polymerization process to make these rubber-toughened resins. Due to its outstanding resiliency, it is estimated that about 20,000 metric tons worldwide of “high cis” polybutadiene is used every year in golf ball cores. This application is widely growing because the golf ball industry seems to be moving away from the traditional wound ball technology to the two-piece, solid core construction, made of BR, in combination with other rubbers.

Conclusion

The butadiene rubber is and will continue to be a high volume rubber for use in toughened plastics, tires, and golf balls due to its low cost, availability and unique properties.