Functional Diene Polymer with Grafted Silane Couplers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing rubber compositions face challenges in balancing wet slip resistance and rolling resistance, as the reactivity of silane couplers with crude rubber and carbon black decreases, leading to insufficient improvement in tire performance and offensive odors during mixing.
Innovation Solution
A functional diene polymer with chemically bonded silane couplers, having a specific molecular structure and weight range, is developed to enhance the interaction between polymer chains, thereby improving wet slip resistance and reducing rolling resistance while minimizing odor issues.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If silane coupler is added in the mixing process of rubber compositions, then the dispersion of packing material in crude rubber is accelerated and the relationship between wet slip resistance and rolling resistance is improved, but the reactivity of silane coupler with crude rubber and carbon black decreases and offensive odor is generated
Solution Approach 1:
The silane coupler is pre-grafted onto the diene polymer chain during the polymerization process before the rubber composition mixing stage. This preliminary action ensures the silane coupler is already positioned on the polymer backbone, eliminating the need for subsequent mixing and avoiding odor generation during the mixing process while maintaining reactivity with carbon black.
Solution Approach 2:
The silane coupler is extracted from the mixing process and integrated into the polymerization process. By removing the silane coupler addition step from the rubber composition mixing stage, the harmful odor generation during mixing is eliminated while the functional benefits are preserved through pre-grafting.
2Stability of the object's composition
If silane coupler is added in the mixing process of rubber compositions, then the dispersion of packing material in crude rubber is accelerated, but the reactivity of silane coupler with crude rubber and carbon black decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The silane coupler is pre-grafted onto the diene polymer chain during polymerization before mixing with carbon black and other additives. This preliminary grafting ensures the silane coupler maintains high reactivity with carbon black since it is already activated on the polymer chain, while simultaneously providing accelerated dispersion of packing materials in the rubber composition.
Solution Approach 2:
The functions of silane coupler (reactivity with carbon black and dispersion acceleration) are merged into a single pre-grafted structure on the diene polymer chain. This unified approach allows both functions to work synergistically without the trade-off present in conventional separate addition methods.
3Device complexity
If only one silane molecule is bonded to a polymer molecular chain, then the structure is simple, but the resultant influence on the interaction between polymer molecular chains is very low and insufficient to effectively improve the wet slip resistance and decrease the rolling resistance
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple silane coupler molecules are grafted at different positions along the diene polymer chain, creating local regions of high silane concentration. This local quality enhancement significantly improves the interaction between polymer molecular chains through enhanced crosslinking density in specific regions, effectively improving wet slip resistance and reducing rolling resistance.
Solution Approach 2:
The diene polymer is transformed into a composite structure with multiple silane coupler units grafted along the chain. This composite architecture combines the flexibility of the diene polymer backbone with the crosslinking capability of multiple silane units, creating a material that achieves both structural integrity and improved tire performance.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The functional diene polymer effectively balances wet slip resistance and rolling resistance, reducing odor emissions and enhancing the performance of rubber compositions, as demonstrated by improved properties in vulcanized rubber samples.
Implementation Method 1
The silane having a structure represented by formula (1) can be bonded to a polymer molecular chain by means of the reaction between halogen and catalyst residue at the ends of the polymer molecular chain
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides a functional diene polymer, a preparation method thereof and a rubber composition comprising the functional diene polymer. The functional diene polymer comprises at least one type of conjugated diene structural units and silane coupler functional units represented by formula (I) in its molecular chain, and the number-average molecular weight of the functional diene polymer is 50,000˜1,000,000; R1-R4 are C1-C20 linear or branched alkyl or heteroatom-containing C1-C20 linear or branched alkyl, and the heteroatom is selected from one or more of halogen, oxygen, sulfur, silicon, and phosphorus. Not only the relationship between the wet slip resistance and the rolling resistance of the functional diene polymer is effectively improved, but also the offensive odor produced in the rubber mixing process owing to the addition of the silane coupler is reduced.