When thinking about what affects a vehicle’s fuel efficiency, we often think first of engine performance, vehicle weight or driving habits. However, tires, which come into direct contact with the road and keep a vehicle moving, are also an important factor in determining driving efficiency. Overall driving performance, including braking power, ride comfort and durability, is closely connected to tires as well.

So, what material helps tires deliver such a wide range of performance? Today, we take a closer look at SSBR (Solution Styrene Butadiene Rubber), a synthetic rubber used as a key material in eco-friendly, high-performance tires.

What Kind of Material Is SSBR?

SSBR (Solution Styrene Butadiene Rubber) is a high-performance synthetic rubber produced through solution polymerization using a lithium (Li) catalyst. Because it can be precisely designed to deliver various properties required for tires, it is used as a key material in eco-friendly, high-performance tires.

While a vehicle is in motion, tires continuously support the vehicle’s weight, absorb impact from the road, become compressed and deformed, and then return to their original shape. In this process, how rubber responds to external force and recovers its shape can affect braking power, ride comfort, durability and driving efficiency.

One important factor here is SSBR’s excellent mechanical properties and viscoelasticity. Viscoelasticity refers to a property that combines viscous characteristics, which absorb and disperse impact when external force is applied, and elastic characteristics, which allow a material to return to its original shape after deformation. Based on these characteristics, SSBR helps tires deliver stable performance across various driving conditions.

Using Less Energy, More Reliably

Tires are required to deliver multiple performance characteristics at the same time. Braking power that helps a vehicle stop safely, wear resistance that prevents tires from wearing out easily over long distances, mechanical properties that withstand repeated impact, and efficiency that reduces the energy required for driving are all important.

One factor closely linked to fuel efficiency is rolling resistance. Rolling resistance refers to the resistance that occurs as a tire repeatedly deforms and recovers while rolling. Lower rolling resistance helps reduce unnecessary energy loss, which can contribute to lower fuel consumption and reduced carbon dioxide emissions. In electric vehicles, it is also considered an important factor that affects energy efficiency and driving range.

However, simply lowering rolling resistance is not enough to create a high-performance tire. Tires must also deliver braking power that allows them to grip the road reliably, as well as durability that helps prevent easy wear.

With its excellent viscoelasticity and wear resistance, SSBR helps support this balance of performance. It contributes to improved fuel efficiency by reducing energy loss during driving, while also helping deliver stable braking power and durability. As a result, SSBR has become a key material for eco-friendly, high-performance tires.

LG Chem’s Bio-Circular Balanced SSBR, Combining Sustainability and Technology

Beyond improving the performance of SSBR, LG Chem produces Bio-Circular Balanced SSBR, which also considers environmental impact from the raw material stage.

Bio-Circular Balanced SSBR is a bio-based material that replaces a portion of the fossil-based raw materials traditionally used in SSBR production with renewable plant-based feedstock derived from sources such as used cooking oil and plant-based byproducts. It is differentiated from conventional SSBR in that it reduces the use of fossil-based raw materials and incorporates renewable feedstock.

LG Chem’s Bio-Circular Balanced SSBR is produced at facilities that use renewable energy, including hydropower and solar power. It has also obtained ISCC PLUS certification, an international certification system that verifies sustainability and traceability across the supply chain, from raw material sourcing to production and distribution.

Along with sustainable feedstock, materials technology is also important to reliably deliver the performance required for tires. One representative example is technology that improves the affinity between SSBR and silica. Silica is a key reinforcing agent that enhances tire durability and braking performance. It acts as a buffer between rubber particles and helps reduce tire deformation. However, hydrophilic silica, which is compatible with water, and hydrophobic rubber, which is compatible with oil, have opposing properties and do not mix easily. This makes technology that improves the bonding strength between the two materials essential.

LG Chem has maximized the affinity and bonding strength between rubber and silica by creating a strong chemical bridge between the two materials. Through this technology, LG Chem produces eco-friendly, high-performance SSBR that helps deliver a balanced combination of driving efficiency, braking power and durability required for tires.

Tire technology continues to evolve in a direction that enhances not only driving performance, but also efficiency, stability, durability and sustainability. To support this progress, rubber, one of the key materials in tires, must also be designed with greater precision according to application and driving environment.

Although tires may look similar from the outside, they contain sophisticated materials technology that affects fuel efficiency and driving performance. Based on its accumulated SSBR technology, LG Chem is advancing high-performance rubber materials while expanding sustainability from the raw material stage, responding to changes in the eco-friendly, high-performance tire market.

Learn more about SSBR 👉 https://www.lgchem.com/product-detail/ssbr

※Some images in this content were generated using AI.