Firestone Polymers

Firestone Polymers, Division of Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc., Akron, OH. 

Fig. 16.2. Flow diagram for a typical solution process for the manufacture of polybutadiene. (Courtesy of Firestone Polymers, Akron, Ohio.)...

Beginning in 1983, additional producers of SBC producers emerged. The first of these was BASF, with the opening of a 22 million pound annual capacity plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany. This was followed by several other companies, including Asahi Chemical Co., Denka (Denki-Kagaku), Firestone Polymers, and Fina Chemical Co. It is estimated that by 2003, worldwide capacity to manufacture SBC may exceed one billion pounds. 

Firestone Polymers, Bridgestone/Firestone Inc., Akron, Ohio, U.S.A. 

Dan F. Graves / Firestone Polymers, Bridgestone/Firestone Research LLC, Akron,... 

Applications. Among the P—O- and P—N-substituted polymers, the fluoroalkoxy- and aryloxy-substituted polymers have so far shown the greatest commercial promise (14—16). Both poly[bis(2,2,2-trifluoroethoxy)phosphazene] [27290-40-0] and poly(diphenoxyphosphazene) [28212-48-8] are microcrystalline, thermoplastic polymers. However, when the substituent symmetry is dismpted with a randomly placed second substituent of different length, the polymers become amorphous and serve as good elastomers. Following initial development of the fluorophosphazene elastomers by the Firestone Tire and Rubber Co., both the fluoroalkoxy (EYPEL-F) and aryloxy (EYPEL-A) elastomers were manufactured by the Ethyl Corp. in the United States from the mid-1980s until 1993 (see ELASTOLffiRS,SYNTHETic-PHOSPHAZENEs). 

The glass-transition temperature in amorphous polymers is also sensitive to copolymerization. Generally, T of a random copolymer falls between the glass-transition temperatures of the respective homopolymers. For example, T for solution-polymerized polybutadiene is —that for solution-polymerized polystyrene is -HlOO°C. A commercial solution random copolymer of butadiene and styrene (Firestone s Stereon) shows an intermediate T of —(48). The glass-transition temperature of the random copolymer can sometimes be related simply as follows ... 

The rubber has a very low of -68°C, excellent hydrolytic stability and excellent resistance to ozone, solvents and acids. In addition the rubber does not bum even in an oxidising atmosphere. Although its properties are virtually unchanged in the range -75 to + 120°C it does not possess the heat resistance of other fluoroelastomers. This polymer was marketed by Firestone in the mid-1970s as PNF rubber, but in 1983 the Ethyl Corporation obtained exclusive rights to the Firestone patents and the polymer is now marketed as Eypel F. 

The authors are thankful to Dr. P. Sadhukhan (Bridgestone/Firestone Research, Akron, OH) for different rubber samples Dr. T. Medintseva (the Semenov s Instimte of Chemical Physics, Moscow, Russia) for TPV samples Dr. N. Dutta (University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia) for the samples of SEBS filled with oil Dr. Z. Petrovich (Kansas Polymer Research Center, Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, KA) for PU samples, and NIST/ATP Award 70NANB4H3055 for financial support. 

The authors wish to thank Dr. John Fieldhouse, of our laboratories, for preparation of polymer samples used in the calibration of the instrument and The Firestone Tire Riobber Co. for support of this work. 

Allcock s discovery that stable polyphosphazenes could be prepared under controlled conditions opened the door for the commercial development of this class of polymers, and In 1970, the first polyphosphazene elastomers were synthesized and the technology subsequently developed by Firestone Tire and Rubber Company (5). Today, polyphosphazenes are commercially available, and represent... 

Financial support by the National Science Foundation (Polymer Program, DMR-77-27618) and the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company is gratefully acknowledged. 

The financial support of the symposium by The Firestone Tire and Rubber Co., Gulf Oil Chemicals Co., the 3M Co., the Shell Development Co., and the Polymer Materials and Interfaces Laboratory of our University was extremely helpful. 

In conclusion, it is evident from the above discussion that anionic polymerization has emerged from a laboratory curiosity to an important industrial process in a relatively short span of time. Currently, over a million tons of polymers are produced by the anionic route in about twenty manufacturing plants around the world. We at Phillips are quite proud of being one of the pioneers along with Firestone and Shell in harnessing this new technology to commercial applications. The fact that our polymers find such wide ranging applications from tire treads to injection molded blood filters and from lubricant additives to solid rocket binders bears ready testimony to this. 

Siegel RA, Firestone BA, Comejo-Bravo J (1991) In DeRossi D, Kajiwara K, Osada Y, Yamauchi A (eds) Polymer gds-fundamentals and biomedical applications. Plenum, New York, p 309... 

Homopolymerization of butadiene can proceed via 1,2- or 1,4-additions. The 1,4-addition produces the geometrically distinguishable trans or cis structures with internal double bonds on the polymer chains, 1,2-Addition, on the other hand, yields either atactic, isotactic, or syndiotactic polymer structures with pendent vinyl groups (Fig. 2). Commercial production of these polymers started in 1960 in the United States. Firestone and Goodyear account for more than 60% of the current production capacity (see Elastomers, synthetic-polybutadiene). 

Firestone et al. (54) heated cottonseed oil at 205° and 225°C in the presence of air. The dimers and higher polymers that were isolated contained moderate amounts of carbonyl and hydroxyl groups and unsaturation difficult to remove by hydrogenation. However, the dimers after bromination-dehydrobromination and oxidation absorbed in the UV region at 250-260 nm and 270-280 nm, indicating the presence of cyclic structures. In addition, Barrett and Henry (55) presented chromatographic and spectral evidence for the presence of dimers in cottonseed oil that had been used for frying. 

Polymer Components Firestone FR-S-2004 59.2% polybutadiene latex (polybutadiene equivalent) styrene acrylonitrile methyl methacrylate Dispersion Medium deionized distilled water (total)... 

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