Polybutadiene

polybutadiene

[¦päl·i‚byüd·ə′dī‚ēn]

(organic chemistry)

Oil-extendable synthetic elastomer polymer made from butadiene; resilience is similar to natural rubber; it is blended with natural rubber for use in tire and other rubber products. Also known as butadiene rubber.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Polybutadiene

 

a product of butadiene polymerization. Molecules of butadiene may join together in the chain at the positions cis-1,4 (I); trans-1,4 (II); and 1,2- (III):

The relationship and distribution of the structures in the chain, which depend on the type of catalyst and on the method and conditions of polymerization, determine the properties of the polymer.

Four stereoregular polybutadienes (cis-1,4; trans-1,4; isotactic-1,2; syndiotactic-1,2), which are produced by stereo-specific polymerization, and several statistical polybutadienes are known. Rubber-like polybutadienes are of great industrial value. Polybutadienes that contain more than 70–90 percent trans-1,4 or 1,2- links of isotactic or syndiotactic structure are white, linearly crystallizing fiber-forming plastics. In the USA, trans-1,4 polybutadiene is produced commercially under the trade name Trans-4; it contains about 90 percent trans-1,4 links (number-average molecular weight, 100,000). It is soluble in benzene and CCl₄ and is vulcanized by sulfur. Trans-4 vulcanizates are characterized by high strength and hardness and by a durability surpassing that of vulcanizates of natural and butadiene-styrene rubbers. Trans-4 is used in the manufacture of sole rubbers, flooring, gaskets, and other commercial products.

REFERENCES

See References under .

F. E. KUPERMAN

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.