Abstract
KRATON Performance Polymers enjoyed more than four decades of stability as the elastomers subsidiary of Shell, one of the world’s largest oil companies. But set loose on its own in 2001, the styrene block copolymer (SBC) specialist encountered a decade of ups and downs as its new owners struggled to find the right strategy. Chief Executive Officer Kevin M. Fogarty says Kraton finally found the path forward by reacquainting itself with the formula that made it a market leader to begin with: innovating in SBCs and coming up with applications that are new to the world. SBCs feature a soft “mid-block” of polybutadiene or polyisoprene between hard blocks of polystyrene. The length and composition of the rubber mid-block—which sometimes includes comonomers such as ethylene, propylene, and maleic anhydride—determine how the polymer chain will fold and bend on itself. The mid-block is the main factor in yielding applications as varied as soft-touch handles for tools, ...
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