Styron Europe Gmbh

Trinseo Europe Gmbh

Norbert Jantsch

Sven Thiele

Evemarie Hamann

Joachim Kiesekamp

Thomas Knispel

Silvia Valenti

Christiane Berndt

Jochen Boehm

Vera Steinert

A process for the continuous preparation of modified elastomeric polymers includes (i) providing and polymerizing at least one conjugated diene monomer and, optionally, one or more aromatic vinyl monomer in the presence of an anionic initiator and a compound according to Formula 1, e.g. 2,2-di-(2-oxolanyl)propane or a derivative thereof, to provide a living anionic polymer; and (ii) adding a 'sulfanylsilane' compound to the living anionic polymer. Elastomeric polymers obtainable according to the above process and compositions including the elastomeric polymer and, optionally, further constituents such as oil, filler and/or vulcanizing agent are described. A process for the preparation of a cross-linked elastomeric polymer that includes adding a vulcanizing agent to the elastomeric polymer, as well as articles and compositions that include the elastomeric polymer, the cross-linked elastomeric polymer or both are described.

Modified polymer compositions

The invention provides a method for a preparation of a polymer selected from the following: (a) modified interpolymer comprising, in polymerized form, a conjugated diene and an aromatic alpha-olefin, or (b) a modified polymer comprising, in polymerized form, a conjugated diene; and wherein said method comprising at least the following steps: polymerizing monomers comprising at least one conjugated diene monomer in at least one polymerization reactor, in the presence of at least one solvent, to form the polymer, optionally coupling a fraction of the polymer chains using at least one coupling agent, modifying the polymer with at least one modifying agent, in at least one reactor, in the presence of the at least one solvent, to form a modified polymer solution; optionally, contacting the modified polymer solution with at least one proton donating compound; contacting the modified polymer solution with water; removing the at least one solvent; contacting the removed solvent with at least one material that will react with, and/or adsorb, silanol to form a purified solvent, recirculating the purified solvent back to the at least one polymerization reactor or to a storage container.

Process to remove silanol from the preparation of a modified polymer

A vulcanized elastomeric composition includes (i) a polymer reaction product of an anionic elastomeric polymer and a silane-sulfide modifier and (ii) a second elastomeric polymer different from the polymer reaction product such that the polymer reaction product comprises at least 30 weight percent of a total amount of the polymer reaction product and the second elastomeric polymer. Methods are described for making the polymer reaction product, their use in preparing vulcanized elastomeric compositions, and articles made from such compositions, including pneumatic tires, tire treads, belts, and the like.

Vulcanized elastomeric compositions

Compositions comprising a coupled interpolymer such as polybutadiene which may be suitable for HIPS and ABS have been discovered. The coupled interpolymer composition comprises an interpolymer comprising one or more monomeric units derived from a diene wherein the coupled interpolymer composition is characterized by: (A) a halide content of less than about 30 ppm based on the total weight of the coupled interpolymer; (B) a molecular weight distribution of from about 1.6 to about 2.4; and (C) a vinyl content of from about 5 to about 15 weight percent based on the total weight of the coupled interpolymer.

Low chloride polybutadiene

A chain end modified polymer comprising the reaction product of a living anionic elastomeric polymer and a silane-sulfide modifier A preferred class of modifiers includes compounds represented by the formula: (RO)x(R)Si&#x2014;R'&#x2014;S&#x2014;SiR, wherein Si is silicon; S is sulfur; O is oxygen; x is an integer selected from 1, 2 and 3; y is an integer selected from 0, 1, and 2; x+y=3; R is the same or different and is: (C-C) alkyl; and R&#x2032; is aryl, alkylaryl, or (C-C) alkyl. The invention further includes methods for making such chain end modified polymers, their use in preparing vulcanized elastomeric polymer compositions, and articles made from such compositions, including pneumatic tires, tire treads, belts, and the like. The subject compositions exhibit lower Tan &#x3b4; at 60&#xb0; C. values, while maintaining good processing characteristics, and a good balance of physical properties, including: abrasion resistance, tensile strength, modulus and elongation at break.

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Halle, Germany

Norbert Jantsch