ULTRASIL® precipitated silica is Evonik’s specialty for the tire and rubber industries. As an active filler it contributes to safe and sustainable “green” tires.

ULTRASIL® precipitated silica is an invention by Evonik with a long tradition as an active filler in the tire and rubber industry. The ULTRASIL® product portfolio includes a broad range of highly dispersible silica (HDS) with different specific surface areas and tailormade performance characteristics for passenger car tires, truck tire tread compounds, shoe soles, conveyor belts and mechanical rubber goods. ULTRASIL® products are available as powder and granulate. Thanks to its excellent processing properties, Evonik’s rubber silica is easily incorporated into the matrix of rubber compounds, even at high filler loadings.

In search of a substitute for carbon black as a filler in tires, a predecessor company of Evonik succeeded in producing silica via the precipitation route in 1951. This pioneering research with silica as reinforcing filler would later revolutionize tire production, when it turned out that silanes were the missing link to the perfect rubber compound for high-performance tires. Silanes enable hydrophilic silica to be chemically coupled to the rubber polymer. The Silica/Silane system significantly improves car tire tread performance and paved the way for safe and fuel-saving tires with excellent wet grip, lower rolling resistance and reduced abrasion.

Evonik is the only supplier worldwide to develop and offer Silica/Silane systems to the rubber industry.