How is butadiene rubber made from butadiene?

Butadiene rubber is produced by the polymerization of butadiene, a reactive gas. To create this synthetic rubber, the gas is dissolved in hydrocarbon solvents and linked into giant molecules known as polybutadiene.1

This chemical process is facilitated by the use of anionic or Ziegler-Natta catalysts, such as isobutyl aluminum-titanium tetrachloride. The resulting polymer can take on different molecular structures—predominantly cis-1,4, but also trans-1,4 and 1,2 side vinyl isomers—which significantly influence the material's physical properties, such as resilience and abrasion resistance.1