Flexsys in link-up with US agency for 6PPD alternatives

Akron, Ohio – Tire chemicals supplier Flexsys America has entered into an R&D agreement with the US Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) to explore potential alternatives for 6-para-phenylene-diamine (6PPD).

Widely used as tire anti-degradant, 6PPD helps prevent the breakdown and cracking of rubber compounds caused by exposure to oxygen, ozone and temperature fluctuations.

The toxic chemical, used in tires to protect them from degradation and mechanical failure, has been linked to the mortality of adult salmon when they migrate to urban creeks to reproduce.

Under the new agreement, Flexsys will combine its expertise with ARS in the areas of fundamental chemistry, bio-based materials and applications testing, said the US company in a recent statement.

“We are maximising our efforts to bring the right scientists and researchers together to explore possible molecular structures to protect tires, people, and the environment,” said Neil Smith, Flexsys chief technology and sustainability officer.

According to the chemicals supplier, "very little" basic research has been performed in the past 50 years on 6PPD alternatives.

Therefore, it said, there are no known, commercially viable replacements for 6PPD that exhibit equivalent or better passenger safety, tire performance and anti-degradation properties.

“While the problem of replacing 6PPD is challenging, it also represents an exciting opportunity to develop urgently needed bio-based anti-degradants for tires,” said Colleen McMahan, a research chemist at the ARS bioproduct research unit in Albany, California.

The research team, she said, will use computational and laboratory expertise to develop bio-based and bio-degradable chemicals and test potential replacements for 6PPD.

The first major challenge of the project, she added, is to develop an understanding of the basic science, the lab-level identification, synthesis and evaluation of possible alternative molecules to 6PPD.