Beijing University of Chemical Technology Made a New Breakthrough in HPBR Rare-earth Catalyst Technology

Recently, a research group led by Professor Wu Yixuan has made a new breakthrough in HPBR (High-performance Butadiene Rubber) rare-earth catalyst technology. On the basis of the first generation rare-earth catalyst technology, the second generation of rare-earth catalyst technology, which is highly active and highly oriented, was developed, and the technology was applied to the preparation of rare-earth butadiene rubber by butadiene polymerization. The results show that this technology can not only further improve the performance of rare earth butadiene rubber , but also can greatly reduce the catalyst dosage. The catalyst consumption per unit product is only 20% of the first generation catalyst, which obviously reduces the production cost of rare earth butadiene rubber.

On March 14th, the Science and Technology Department of China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation held a scientific research achievement evaluation in Beijing and the expert group listened to the working report and technical report by Professor Wu Yixuan. After inquiring and discussion, the experts agreed that the overall technology of the research achievement plays a leading role internationally. The scientific research results will be more rapidly applied into Sinopec industrial plants producing 30,000 tons rare earth butadiene rubber a year.

The research team of Professor Wu Yixuan dedicated to rare earth catalyst, controlled polymerization and high performance synthetic rubber research. The first generation of rare-earth catalyst developed by his team has been successfully applied to the industrial production of high performance rare earth rubber (30,000 tons/year) in Sinopec and the overall technology has reached international advanced level.