New SRI tech centre to track chemical reactions in rubber

Hyogo, Japan - Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) has established a new research base in Sendai City, Miyagi prefecture, focused on the nano-scale analysis of rubber materials.

In particular, SRI said 27 Nov that the facility will tap the capabilities of a nearby 3GeV high-intensity synchrotron radiation facility, called NanoTerasu - set for operation in 2024.

According to SRI, the Sendai centre will carry out research on the “extremely complex structure” of rubber components, from the nanoscale to the microscale.

To date, in order to analyse the internal structure of rubber in detail, SRI has used the SPring-8 large synchrotron radiation facilities and simulation technology.

However, ‘hard X- rays’ from the synchrotron facility, which have been used so far, mainly provide information on the structure of rubber.

The NanoTerasu “high-brightness soft X- rays”, SRI added, will allow researchers to also capture chemcial reactions and phenomena occuring “at extremely high speeds.”

And, by combining research from both facilities, the Japanese group expects to be able to perform real-time measurements close to the actual tire-usage environment.

“We hope that this will further accelerate our R&D, including technologies for sustaining performance and suppressing wear,” SRI's statement concluded.