Polybutadiene
Polibutadieno
- Date
- c. 1910 · confidence medium
- Place
- Saint Petersburg, Russia
- Credited to
- Sergei Vasilyevich Lebedev
- Field
- Matter & energy
What it is
A synthetic rubber made by polymerizing butadiene, with high elasticity and wear resistance; synthesized by Lebedev and later produced industrially in the USSR.
In Germany, Bayer produced an early variant known as "Buna rubber", using sodium as a catalyst.
What it led to
- Soviet industrial-scale synthetic rubber production
- Predominant use in tyre manufacturing
- Additive to improve the toughness of plastics such as polystyrene