2012 Volume 33 Issue 5 Pages 250-258
Synopsis: The fuel consumption efficiency of tires has become more significant in the tire industry from the viewpoint of energy saving and resource saving. Rolling resistance of tires is related to the hysteresis loss of tire tread compounds. Silicafilled rubber compounds show low hysteresis loss in comparison with carbon black-filled rubber compounds, and silica has been widely used as notable filler for high performance tires with good wet grip and low rolling resistance. However, silica is more difficult to disperse well in rubber than carbon black because of interparticle flocculation caused by the interaction of silanol groups covering its surface. Living anionic polymerization is useful technique to resolve this problem, new functionalized SBR which can strongly interact with silica has been proposed in order to reduce rolling resistance. Following the development of new functionalization technology, further reduction of hysteresis loss has been achieved by development of new polymers for silica compound systems. This paper reviews some details of functionalization technology for solution SBR, such as chain-end functionalized SBR, both chain-end functionalized SBR, multi-functional SBR.
