Unnatural Rubber

The invention of synthetic rubber by chemist Fritz Hofmann exactly 100 years ago was celebrated by Lanxess by staging a scientific colloquium on October 12 in Cologne. During the event, 14 high-profile speakers from the worlds of business, politics, and science discussed how the successes of the past can be transferred to the future, what importance rubber has today as a precursor to other industrial applications and what development and production potential can be harnessed in the future. Despite one century of life, the future of synthetic rubber has only just begun. This material had opened the door to numerous innovations in previous decades - automotive engineering, energy generation, medicine, sports, and even the aerospace industry. The foundation stone for synthetic rubber was laid, as said above, in 1909 by Fritz Hofmann, who discovered the elastic material methyl isoprene. Just on September 12 of the same year he was granted a patent for the "process for the manufacture of synthetic rubber”. Reducing fuel consumption and achieving maximum vehicle reliability are the most important challenges for the automotive industry of the future. Lowering the weight of vehicles, improving the rolling resistance of tires and developing special wheel trims also play an important part in this.