Bio-Based Rubber To Help Carbon Neutrality Domestic R&D Accelerates After 2022

Bio-based rubber refers to rubber prepared by synthesis using bio-based raw materials. Bio-based rubber is an important way for the sustainable development of the rubber industry.

On the one hand, bio-based rubber is not restricted by the shortage of oil and gas resources, and on the other hand, bio-based rubber solves the problem of low and unstable production capacity of natural rubber. The development of bio-based rubber industry is expected to get rid of the rubber industry's dependence on fossil raw materials and help carbon neutrality.

In the context of energy scarcity and the gradual implementation of double carbon, the bio-based rubber market has a broad space for development.

Rubber is a polymer with elasticity, and as a basic industrial raw material, the safety of the rubber industry chain is related to the overall strategic security of China.

Rubber has excellent performance and a wide range of downstream applications, involving a number of fields such as automotive, aviation, aerospace, marine and medical.

Rubber can be divided into synthetic rubber and natural rubber, of which synthetic rubber is the mainstream product in the market, but synthetic rubber relies on fossil resources and has a high carbon footprint. In recent years, under the background of increasingly strict environmental protection regulation and rapid development of bio-economy, the attention of bio-based rubber market has increased.

According to the "2022-2027 Bio-based Rubber Industry Market Depth Research and Investment Prospect Forecast Analysis Report" released by the NewSIQ Industry Research Center, companies around the world are actively laying out the bio-based rubber market, attracted by the good market prospect. The bio-based rubber industry in Europe and the United States has a first-mover advantage, such as Goodyear's bio-based isoamyl rubber, Alansinco's bio-based butyl rubber and bio-based ethylene propylene rubber, and Continental Tire's dandelion rubber.

In 2017, the National Key Research and Development Program for the preparation technology and application demonstration of new bio-based rubber materials was established, covering material-based co-polyester rubber, bio-based itaconic acid ester rubber, dandelion rubber and so on. With national support, China's bio-based rubber industry has also developed relatively quickly, and the gap with European and American countries is narrowing.

At present, enterprises and institutions engaged in the research and production of bio-based rubber in China include Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Xishuangbanna Shengrun Rubber, Shandong Tokyo Bo Zhongju New Materials, Tongcheng New Materials Co.

The bio-based rubbers currently under research or production in China include bio-based biodegradable polyester rubber, functionalised bio-based itaconate-butadiene rubber, dandelion rubber, liquid-phase super-polymerised natural rubber, etc. Functionalised bio-based itaconate-butadiene rubber is one of the original synthetic rubber varieties in China, which has been successfully put into production in the world's first 1,000-tonne demonstration production line in Zhongjiao New Materials in Santobo, and a trial production of bio-based green tyres in the industrial production line of Shandong Linglong Tyre.