Disclosed herein are rubber compositions comprising: (a) natural rubber, polyisoprene, or a combination thereof; (b) at least one conjugated diene monomer containing polymer or polymer; (c) a first silica filler having a BET surface area of at least 220 m.sup.2/g; (d) a second silica filler having a BET surface area lower than that of the first silica filler and greater than 135 m.sup.2/g; and (e) optionally carbon black filler.

A water-based hydrogel polymer coating and a method of application to natural rubber or other elastomeric latex products are provided. The water-based hydrogel polymer is mixed with a blend of at least one elastomeric material to provide a hydrogel polymer blend composition. The water-based hydrogel polymer blend composition is applied in a single application to an elastomeric article, such as gloves, without additional solvents in the polymer blend composition and without a separate acid or chemical priming step. The water-based hydrogel coating herein provides increased lubricity to facilitate improved wet and dry donning of the elastomeric article.

An aqueous adhesive composition for treating a reinforcing fiber for bonding to a thermosetting polymer matrix and products made therefrom such as power transmission belts. The adhesive composition includes: water as the solvent or dispersing medium; a polyelectrolyte co-curable with the polymer matrix; a primer material compatible with the fiber and co-curable with the polyelectrolyte; and optionally a rubber curative compatible with the polyelectrolyte and the polymer matrix. A fiber-reinforced, composite polymer system may thus include a thermosetting polymer matrix, a reinforcing fiber embedded therein, and an adhesive composition coating the fiber; the adhesive composition including a polyelectrolyte co-curable with the polymer matrix and a primer material compatible with the fiber and co-curable with the polyelectrolyte. The adhesive composition may include a curative compatible with the polyelectrolyte. In one preferred embodiment, the invention is an aqueous adhesive composition including water, an epoxy resin, a maleated polybutadiene derivative, and a curative.

An object of the present invention is to provide a rubber composition from which a vulcanized rubber having excellent wear resistance and a high breaking elongation and a high breaking stress can be obtained. Further, another object of the present invention is to provide a vulcanized rubber obtained by vulcanizing the rubber composition, and a rubber product and a tire comprising the rubber composition or the vulcanized rubber.

The rubber composition of the present invention includes a rubber component (A), a foaming agent (B), and a polyhydric alcohol (C) having 3 or more hydroxyl groups per molecule, wherein the rubber component (A) comprises 30% by mass or more of natural rubber based on the entire rubber component, and a content of the polyhydric alcohol (C) is 1 to 6 parts by mass per 100 parts by mass of the rubber component (A).

Provided is a composition for a low specific gravity molded foam. The composition includes at least one polymer component selected from the group consisting of a peroxide-crosslinkable thermoplastic resin, a peroxide-crosslinkable rubber and a peroxide-crosslinkable thermoplastic elastomer, thermally expandable microspheres, and an organic peroxide crosslinking agent.

The present invention relates to compositions containing at least one reactive binder, at least one curing agent and/or accelerator, at least one thermally activatable blowing agent and at least one light-weight filler, wherein at least one expanded particle of at least one glass-rich volcanic rock with a closed outer shell is contained as a light-weight filler. The invention also relates to a method for stiffening and/or reinforcing components with thin-walled structures with a corresponding composition as well as to correspondingly produced components.

A method for preparing a vulcanizable composition of matter, the method comprising mixing rubber, silica, silica coupling agent, a strong base, and nicotinamide to form a masterbatch, introducing a curative to the masterbatch, and mixing the curative into the masterbatch to form a vulcanizable composition of matter.

A first tire member manufacturing method includes an operation in which master batch is made, and an operation in which the master batch and high-cis polybutadiene rubber are mixed. The operation in which the master batch is made includes an operation in which carbon-black-containing pre-coagulation rubber latex is coagulated to obtain a coagulum, an operation in which a compound according to Formula (I) is added to the water-containing coagulum, and an operation in which the compound according to Formula (I) is dispersed within the coagulum. ##STR00001## In Formula (I), R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 each indicates a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group having 1 to 20 carbons, an alkenyl group having 1 to 20 carbons, or an alkynyl group having 1 to 20 carbons. R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 may be the same or different, M.sup.+ indicates sodium ion, potassium ion, or lithium ion.

A rubber composition comprises at least one phenol/aldehyde resin based on at least one aromatic polyphenol comprising at least one aromatic ring bearing at least two hydroxyl functions in the meta position relative to one another, the two positions ortho to at least one of the hydroxyl functions being unsubstituted, and at least one aromatic polyaldehyde selected from 1,3-benzenedicarboxaldehyde, 1,4-benzenedicarboxaldehyde and mixtures of these compounds, the rubber composition having a nominal secant modulus at 10% elongation, measured according to standard ASTM D 412, 1998, of greater than or equal to 25 MPa.

A polymeric compound involves a blend of 50 wt % or greater of a thermoplastic having an average melting point (T.sub.m) of less than 200 C. and less than 50 wt % of a butyl rubber ionomer dispersed in a matrix of the thermoplastic, weights based on total weight of the thermoplastic and butyl rubber ionomer. Such blends may exhibit improved physical properties compared to unblended thermoplastic, particularly ultimate elongation and/or damping. The polymeric compounds are useful for forming a variety of articles of manufacture.