The present invention relates to articles comprising crosslinked polymer network comprising thioether crosslinks and process of making and using same. Such thiol-ene crosslinking reactions not only make the isocyanate crosslinking reaction unnecessary, but they also improve the article's strength due to chemical crosslinking between the article's resin layers, and reduce or eliminate post curing. Thus resulting in a sufficiently cured article in a much shorter time.

A method for producing a modified polymer latex includes: adding a carboxyl group-containing compound, an anionic surfactant having a weight-average molecular weight of less than 500, and an anionic surfactant having a weight-average molecular weight of 500 or more to a polyisoprene latex; and reacting the polyisoprene with the carboxyl group-containing compound in a presence of the anionic surfactant having a weight-average molecular weight of less than 500 and the anionic surfactant having a weight-average molecular weight of 500 or more.

The present invention relates to a tire comprising a rubber composition based on at least a reinforcing filler, a polymer comprising conjugated diene functions and a system for crosslinking the polymer. The system for crosslinking the polymer comprises a polydienophile of general formula (I):

##STR00001##

According to formula (I), A represents a covalent bond or a hydrocarbon-based group comprising at least 1 carbon atom, which is optionally substituted and optionally interrupted by one or more heteroatoms, and R.sub.1, R.sub.2, R.sub.3 and R.sub.4 independently represent identical or different groups chosen from the hydrogen atom and hydrocarbon-based groups, R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 on the one hand and R.sub.3 and R.sub.4 on the other hand possibly forming, together with the carbon atoms of the ring to which they are attached, a ring.

According to an aspect of the invention, a curable rubber composition is provided which includes a high molecular weight diene elastomer; optionally, a carbon black composition; a silica composition; and a farnesene polymer comprising farnesene monomers. The farnesene polymer is modified with at least one silane group, has a number average molecular weight of 1,000 g/mol to 100,000 g/mol, and has a glass transition temperature of equal to or less than 50 C. According to another aspect of the invention, a method for producing a rubber composition for use in a tire is provided. The method includes forming a composition by mixing a farnesene polymer modified with at least one silane group, a silica composition, a high molecular weight diene elastomer, and optionally a carbon black composition, the farnesene polymer comprising farnesene monomers; and curing the composition.

According to an aspect of the invention, a curable rubber composition is provided which includes a high molecular weight diene elastomer; optionally, a carbon black composition; a silica composition; and a farnesene polymer comprising farnesene monomers. The farnesene polymer is modified with at least one silane group, has a number average molecular weight of 1,000 g/mol to 100,000 g/mol, and has a glass transition temperature of equal to or less than 50 C. According to another aspect of the invention, a method for producing a rubber composition for use in a tire is provided. The method includes forming a composition by mixing a farnesene polymer modified with at least one silane group, a silica composition, a high molecular weight diene elastomer, and optionally a carbon black composition, the farnesene polymer comprising farnesene monomers; and curing the composition.

There are provided a modified liquid diene rubber that can be used for a curable resin composition and a resin composition containing the modified liquid diene rubber. The curable resin composition containing the modified liquid diene rubber has a much higher curing rate than that in the related art, and the resulting cured product has excellent mechanical properties, transparency, and heat resistance. Produced are a modified liquid diene rubber and a resin composition containing the modified liquid diene rubber. The modified liquid diene rubber includes a modifying group (p) partly containing a (meth)acryloyl group therein and a monomer unit (a1) derived from a conjugated diene compound. A carbon-carbon double bond derived from the conjugated diene compound has a hydrogenation rate of 30 to 95 mol %, and the modifying group (p) has a functional group equivalent weight of 700 to 20,000 g/eq.

There are provided a modified liquid diene rubber that can be used for a curable resin composition and a resin composition containing the modified liquid diene rubber. The curable resin composition containing the modified liquid diene rubber has a much higher curing rate than that in the related art, and the resulting cured product has excellent mechanical properties, transparency, and heat resistance. Produced are a modified liquid diene rubber and a resin composition containing the modified liquid diene rubber. The modified liquid diene rubber includes a modifying group (p) partly containing a (meth)acryloyl group therein and a monomer unit (a1) derived from a conjugated diene compound. A carbon-carbon double bond derived from the conjugated diene compound has a hydrogenation rate of 30 to 95 mol %, and the modifying group (p) has a functional group equivalent weight of 700 to 20,000 g/eq.

The present invention aims to provide rubber compositions and tires which provide improved overall performance in terms of wet grip performance and dry grip performance. The present invention relates to a rubber composition having a hardness that reversibly changes with water and satisfying the following relationship (1):
Hardness when dry?Hardness when water-wet?10(1)
wherein each hardness represents the JIS-A hardness at 25? C. of the rubber composition.

[Object] The invention provides rubber compositions having excellent filler dispersibility, crosslinked products having excellent properties such as abrasion resistance, and tires that exhibit enhanced rolling resistance performance and attain simultaneous enhancements in steering stability and ice grip performance by virtue of using the compositions or the crosslinked products in portions of the tires. [Solution] The rubber composition includes 100 parts by mass of a solid rubber (A), 0.1 to 10 parts by mass of a modified liquid diene rubber (B) that is obtained by adding a modifying agent to an unmodified liquid diene rubber (B) and has functional groups derived from the modifying agent, and 20 to 150 parts by mass of a filler (C). The modified liquid diene rubber (B) satisfies the following (i) to (iv): (i) the content of butadiene units is not less than 50 mass % relative to the total of all monomer units, (ii) the weight average molecular weight (Mw) is 25,000 to 120,000, (iii) the amount of the modifying agent added is 3 to 40 parts by mass per 100 parts by mass of the unmodified liquid diene rubber (B), and (iv) the average number of functional groups per molecule of the modified liquid diene rubber (B) is 5 to 80.

[Object] The invention provides rubber compositions having excellent filler dispersibility, crosslinked products having excellent properties such as abrasion resistance, and tires that exhibit enhanced rolling resistance performance and attain simultaneous enhancements in steering stability and ice grip performance by virtue of using the compositions or the crosslinked products in portions of the tires. [Solution] The rubber composition includes 100 parts by mass of a solid rubber (A), 0.1 to 10 parts by mass of a modified liquid diene rubber (B) that is obtained by adding a modifying agent to an unmodified liquid diene rubber (B) and has functional groups derived from the modifying agent, and 20 to 150 parts by mass of a filler (C). The modified liquid diene rubber (B) satisfies the following (i) to (iv): (i) the content of butadiene units is not less than 50 mass % relative to the total of all monomer units, (ii) the weight average molecular weight (Mw) is 25,000 to 120,000, (iii) the amount of the modifying agent added is 3 to 40 parts by mass per 100 parts by mass of the unmodified liquid diene rubber (B), and (iv) the average number of functional groups per molecule of the modified liquid diene rubber (B) is 5 to 80.