Kraton (polymer)

Kraton polymers offer many of the properties of natural rubber, such as flexibility, high traction, and sealing abilities, but with increased resistance to heat, weathering, and chemicals.

[1] Shell Oil Company purchased the Torrance, California facility from the U.S. government that was built to make synthetic styrene butadiene rubber.

[4] As part of the divestment program that was announced by Shell in December 1998, the Kraton elastomers business was sold to a private equity firm Ripplewood Holdings in 2000.

Kraton polymers are always used in blends with various other ingredients like paraffinic oils, polyolefins, polystyrene, bitumen, tackifying resins, and fillers to provide a very large range of end-use products ranging from hot melt adhesives to impact-modified transparent polypropylene bins, from medical TPE compounds to modified bitumen roofing felts or from oil gel toys (including sex toys) to elastic attachments in diapers.

[13] The implementation of U.S. requirements for automobile bumpers to absorb 5 mph (8 km/h) impacts with no damage to the car's safety equipment lead to the first successful commercial automotive application of specialized flexible polymers as fascia for the 1974 AMC Matador.

[17] The Eagle's Kraton bodywork was lightweight, flexible, and did not crack in cold weather as is typical of fiberglass automobile body components.

[18] Some grades of Kraton can also be dissolved into hydrocarbon oils to create "shear thinning" grease-type products that are used in the manufacture of telecommunications cables containing optical fibers.