Abstract

Liquid butadiene rubber (LqBR) is used as a processing aid and plays a vital role in the manufacture of high-performance tire tread compounds. In this study, center-functionalized LqBR (C-LqBR) was polymerized with different vinyl content via anionic polymerization. The effects of the vinyl content on the properties of the compounds were investigated by partially replacing the treated distillate aromatic extract (TDAE) oil with C-LqBR in silica-filled rubber compounds. C-LqBR compounds showed a low Payne effect and Mooney viscosity regardless of the vinyl content, because of improved silica dispersion due to the ethoxysilyl group. As the vinyl content of C-LqBR increased, the optimum cure time (t₉₀) increased owing to a decrease in the number of allylic hydrogen. Moreover, the glass transition temperature (T_g) of the compound increased, and snow traction and abrasion resistance performance decreased, whereas wet grip improved. The energy loss characteristics revealed that the hysteresis attributed to the free chain ends of C-LqBR was dominant.

Keywords: liquid butadiene rubber;silica-filled compound;anionic polymerization;vulcanizate structure;rubber compounding