A conjugated diene-based rubber including a polymer block (A) containing isoprene monomer unit as the main component and a polymer block (B) containing 1,3-butadiene monomer unit as the main component, wherein at least one of the polymer block (A) and the polymer block (B) contains a unit of a vinyl compound having a functional group interactive with silica, the polymer block (A) has a weight average molecular weight (Mw) in the range of 1,000 to 30,000, and the entire conjugated diene-based rubber has a weight average molecular weight (Mw) in the range of 50,000 to 5,000,000.

A rubber composition of the present invention contains 100 parts by mass of a rubber component (A) containing 45 to 75% by mass of natural rubber and 25 to 55% by mass of a conjugated diene-based polymer, in which a bonded styrene amount of the conjugated diene compound moieties is 25% or less, 1 to 40 parts by mass of a non-modified conjugated diene-based polymer (B) which has a weight average molecular weight of 5,000 or more but less than 40,000 in terms of polystyrene as measured by GPC and in which a bonded styrene amount of the conjugated diene compound moieties is less than 10% and a bonded vinyl amount of the conjugated diene compound moieties is 20% or more, and a filler (C), in which at least one of the conjugated diene-based polymers contained in the rubber component (A) is a modified conjugated diene-based polymer. With the rubber composition, a tire having further enhanced on-ice performance and having both excellent on-ice performance and excellent abrasion resistance is obtained.

There is provided a rubber composition which can provide a tire having an excellent balance of the breaking properties, the rolling resistance performance (low fuel consumption) and the wet grip performance. The rubber composition includes 100 parts by mass of a diene rubber, and 1 to 100 parts by mass of fine particles (A) having a glass transition point of −70° C. to 0° C. and composed of a polymer comprising constituent units of at least one monofunctional monomer. The fine particles (A) have a crosslinked structure crosslinked by at least one polyfunctional monomer having a polysulfide bond in which at least two successive sulfur atoms are bonded together.

There is provided a rubber composition which can provide a tire having an excellent balance of the breaking properties, the rolling resistance performance (low fuel consumption) and the wet grip performance. The rubber composition includes 100 parts by mass of a diene rubber, and 1 to 100 parts by mass of fine particles (A) having a glass transition point of −70° C. to 0° C. and composed of a polymer comprising constituent units of at least one monofunctional monomer. The fine particles (A) have a crosslinked structure crosslinked by at least one polyfunctional monomer having a polysulfide bond in which at least two successive sulfur atoms are bonded together.

A rubber composition is based on an elastomeric matrix comprising from 40 to 80 phr of at least one butadiene elastomer, a vulcanization system comprising sulfur and a vulcanization accelerator, in which the weight ratio of sulfur to vulcanization accelerator is strictly less than 1, and at least 55 phr of organic filler mainly comprising a carbon black, called black G, having a BET specific surface area ranging from 15 to 50 m.sup.2/g and a compressed oil absorption number (COAN) in a range of from 40 to 100 ml/100 g.

The present invention relates to the use of N,N′,N″-substituted hexahydro-1,3,5-triazine in the anionic polymerization of conjugated diene monomer and vinylaromatic monomer. Use of this polar additive produces copolymers having both high vinylaromatic and low vinyl contents, while the blockiness of the vinylaromatic unit can be tailored.

The present invention relates to the use of N,N′,N″-substituted hexahydro-1,3,5-triazine in the anionic polymerization of conjugated diene monomer and vinylaromatic monomer. Use of this polar additive produces copolymers having both high vinylaromatic and low vinyl contents, while the blockiness of the vinylaromatic unit can be tailored.

A styrenic block copolymer having one or more polymer blocks A and one or more polymer blocks B is disclosed, where “A” is a poly(vinylaromatic) block having a molecular weight of greater than 5 kg/mol. The “B” block has a molecular weight of more than 15 kg/mol, and comprises polymerized 1,3-diene units and vinylaromatic units, wherein the polymerized vinylaromatic units represent 5-40 wt. % of the overall weight of the block “B”. The polymerized 1,3-diene units comprise more than 80 wt. % of polymerized isoprene units in which 45-80 mol % are 1,4-isoprene addition units. The blocks “A” and “B” represent from >5 to <40 wt. %, and >33 to <95 wt. %, respectively, relative to the overall weight of the block copolymer. The polymers have physical properties that make them valuable, e.g., as vibration damping materials.

A terpolymer of ethylene, of a first 1,3-diene having from 4 to 6 carbon atoms and of a second 1,3-diene of formula CH.sub.2═CR-CH═CH.sub.2 is provided. The terpolymer contains more than 50 mol % of ethylene units and at least 1 mol % of units of the second 1,3-diene, the symbol R representing a hydrocarbon chain having from 3 to 20 carbon atoms. Such a polymer gives an improved compromise between its ethylene content, its stiffness and its degree of crystallinity for use in tires.

A terpolymer of ethylene, of a first 1,3-diene having from 4 to 6 carbon atoms and of a second 1,3-diene of formula CH.sub.2═CR-CH═CH.sub.2 is provided. The terpolymer contains more than 50 mol % of ethylene units and at least 1 mol % of units of the second 1,3-diene, the symbol R representing a hydrocarbon chain having from 3 to 20 carbon atoms. Such a polymer gives an improved compromise between its ethylene content, its stiffness and its degree of crystallinity for use in tires.