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Butyl rubber is a synthetic rubber, a copolymer of isobutylene with isoprene. The abbreviation IIR stands for isobutylene isoprene rubber. Polyisobutylene, also known as "PIB" or polyisobutene, (C4H8)n, is the homopolymer of isobutylene, or 2-methyl-1-propene, on which butyl rubber is based. Butyl rubber is produced by polymerization of about 98% of isobutylene with about 2% of isoprene. Structurally, polyisobutylene resembles polypropylene, having two methyl groups substituted on every other carbon atom. Polyisobutylene is a colorless to light yellow viscoelastic material. It is generally odorless and tasteless, though it may exhibit a slight characteristic odor. Butyl rubber has excellent impermeability, and the long polyisobutylene segments of its polymer chains give it good flex properties. The formula for PIB is: –(–CH2–C(CH3)2–)n– The formula for IIR is: It can be made from the monomer isobutylene or CH2=C(CH3)2 only via cationic addition polymerization. A synthetic rubber, or elastomer, butyl rubber is impermeable to air and used in many applications requiring an airtight rubber. Polyisobutylene and butyl rubber are used in the manufacture of adhesives, agricultural chemicals, fiber optic compounds, ball bladders, caulks and sealants, cling film, electrical fluids, lubricants (2 cycle engine oil), paper and pulp, personal care products, pigment concentrates, for rubber and polymer modification, for protecting and sealing certain equipment for use in areas where chemical weapons are present, as a gasoline/diesel fuel additive, and even in chewing gum. The first major application of butyl rubber was tire inner tubes. This remains an important segment of its market even today. ==History== Isobutylene was discovered by Michael Faraday in 1825. Polyisobutylene (PIB) was first developed by the BASF unit of IG Farben in 1931 using a boron trifluoride catalyst at low temperatures and sold under the trade name Oppanol B. PIB remains a core business for BASF to this day. It was later developed into butyl rubber in 1937, by researchers William J. Sparks and Robert M. Thomas, at Standard Oil of New Jersey's Linden, N.J., laboratory. Today, the majority of the global supply of butyl rubber is produced by just two companies, ExxonMobil, the successor to Standard Oil, and Polymer Corporation, a Canadian federal crown corporation established in 1942 to produce artificial rubber to substitute for overseas supply cut off by World War II. It was renamed Polysar in 1976 and the rubber component became a subsidiary, Polysar Rubber Corp. The company was privatized in 1988 with its sale to NOVA Corp which, in turn, sold Polysar Rubber in 1990 to Bayer AG of Germany. In 2005 Bayer AG spun off chemical divisions, including most of the Sarnia site, creating LANXESS AG, also of Germany. PIB homopolymers of high molecular weight (100 000 - 400 000 or more) are polyolefin elastomers: tough extensible rubber-like materials over a wide temperature range; with low density: 0.913-0.920, low permeability and excellent electrical properties. In the 1950s and 1960s, halogenated butyl rubber (halobutyl) was developed, in its chlorinated (chlorobutyl) and brominated (bromobutyl) variants, providing significantly higher curing rates and allowing covulcanization with other rubbers such as natural rubber and styrene-butadiene rubber. Halobutyl is today the most important material for the inner linings of tubeless tires. In the spring of 2013 two incidents of PIB contamination in the English Channel, believed to be connected, were described as the worst UK marine pollution 'for decades'. The RSPB estimated over 2,600 seabirds were killed by the chemical and hundreds more were rescued and decontaminated. 〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=biggest UK pollution incident for decades )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Butyl rubber」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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