Among the environmentally friendly ecology products JSR produces, here is a lineup of mainstream products.

<Synthetic rubber for energy saving tires>

(1)Product outline

• There are two types of rubbers, natural and synthetic. Natural rubber is made by collecting latex from rubber trees, and synthetic rubber is made by using petroleum as a raw material. Since nature-derived material is used for natural rubber, it is difficult to change its performance. On the other hand, with synthetic rubber, different types of rubber can be made by using ingenuity through the process of production.
• Natural rubber is used for making medical and hygiene products as rubber gloves and rubber bands, as well as raw materials for cars. Synthetic rubber is used for making automobile tires, fuel hoses and golf balls and such.
• JSR's synthetic rubber is a synthetic rubber suited for energy saving tires which JSR has developed through its proprietary technology.

(2)Point for ecology

• Tires using JSR's synthetic rubber for energy saving tires reduces tires' "rotational friction" and leads to upgrading cars' fuel consumption.

*Rotational friction refers to a force that suppresses tires' rotation, a kind of friction generated by the distortion in the shape of tires when they rotate on bumpy surface of roads. When this force is generated, it requires extra energy from car engine. If rotational friction is suppressed, required energy becomes less and thus leads to better fuel consumption for cars.

<Thermoplastic elastomers>

(1)Product outline

• It is a material that has a resiliency like rubber under room temperature, but becomes soft by adding heat, and can be molded into various shapes. This is the reason why this material is called thermoplastic elastomer. Thermoplastic elastomer can be remolded and is suited for recycling.
• It also has a property that allows mixing different types of plastics, as in water and oil that do not mix originally.

(2)Purpose of Use

• It is used as "corner material" for door corners for cars, components in engine rooms of cars, and additives for recycling PET bottles.

(3)Point for ecology

• It makes recycling of automobile parts possible; since it weighs lighter than rubber, it can reduce weight of cars (upgraded fuel consumption); since its manufacturing process is simple, it contributes to reducing CO2 emission at production plant.
• In the field of recycling PET bottles, it is becoming a necessary material for activities to save resources in a society.

<Semiconductor materials>

(1)Product outline

• Semiconductors are made by multiple steps sequences of photographic and chemical processing steps during which layers with electronic circuits are piled up on a wafer. JSR's semiconductor materials include: photo resists used in the process for transferring circuit patterns onto a silicon wafer; and CMP materials (Chemical Mechanical Planarization materials) and insulation materials used for piling up layers of circuits. All of them are important materials that affect semiconductors' performance.

(2)Purpose of Use

• Semiconductors using JSR's materials are widely used in computers installed in digital home appliances including personal computers, flat panel TV and cell phones.

(3)Point for ecology

• Computers consume huge amount of electricity. If nothing is done, consumption of electricity goes up in proportion to the upgrading of computers' performance. Computers with high performance with smaller electricity consumption are under development, and what is making this possible is the micro thinning technology in the field of semiconductors. JSR's semiconductor materials sustain such leading edge manufacturing process for semiconductors, and contribute to suppressing increase in the electricity consumption of computers.

*Semiconductors' advanced microfabrications technology refers to decrease minimum feature size (thinning of lines) of circuits created on substrates.

<Lithium ion capacitors>

(1)Product outline

• Capacitor is a device for storing electricity; it functions to store electricity and discharge electricity when needed. Similar device is a dry battery often used in households. With dry batteries, when stored electricity is used up, they cannot be used any longer. But advantage with capacitors is that they can repeatedly store and use electricity. Unlike dry batteries that release electricity in small amounts, capacitors have a characteristic that can discharge huge electricity in a moment.
• The capacitors which JSR group deals with so-called lithium ion capacitors; storage of huge amount of electricity and downsized designs were made possible, which were difficult before.

(2)Purpose of Use

• By using its characteristic that it can be used repeatedly on a semi-permanent basis and take in both huge amount of electricity and release it in a moment, its application is expected to widen into various areas such as power source for fork lifts and cranes-that require huge electricity at the start of engine-and for wind-power generation, for effectively taking in huge amount of electricity generated when the wind is strong.

(3)Point for ecology

• Advantages are: It can be used repeatedly on a semi-permanent basis; do not use hazardous heavy metals as lead and cadmium; and allows bigger energy output from the same amount of electricity.

*Heavy metals are ones with relatively higher specific gravity, such as mercury, chrome, cadmium, lead and iron.
Many of them possess strong toxicity; even a small amount accumulated in human body becomes hazardous.

<Electrolyte film>

(1)Product outline

• Electrolyte film is a part that generates electricity by using reactions between oxygen and hydrogen used in fuel, which is a vital component in a fuel cell.

(2)Purpose of Use

• JSR's electrolyte films are used in such fuel cells installed on Honda's fuel cell cars.

(3)Point for ecology

• Fuel cells generate electricity by reacting hydrogen and oxygen. Since water is the only substance generated as a result of reaction, cars do not emit any exhaust while in operation. Fuel cell cars are said to be the ultimate eco-friendly cars. Another characteristic of hydrogen, which is the fuel for fuel cell, is that it can be made from water and biomass that do not generate CO2.

*Biomass is a resource generated from recyclable energy sources such as plants and animals. Energy obtained from using biomass as a raw material is called biomass energy. Bioethanol used as an alternative for gasoline is one of them. Since biomass energy does not burn fossil fuels such as petroleum and coal, it is said to be a clean energy friendly to earth.

Any questions regarding aforementioned products should be directed JSR.