CR Neoprene Rubber Compound

Chloroprene rubber occupies a unique position among synthetic elastomers. Its backbone incorporates chlorine atoms directly into the polymer chain — and that one structural fact explains most of CR’s performance profile. The chlorine substituent limits chain mobility in the same way it limits combustion: oxygen has a harder time attacking a chlorinated chain, which translates to self-extinguishing behavior in flame and inherently better weathering resistance compared to diene rubbers like SBR or NR. This is not an additive-dependent property. It’s baked into the molecular structure itself.
That same polarity also gives CR meaningful resistance to petroleum-based oils and greases — not FKM-level resistance, but sufficient for fuel hose jacketing, marine equipment seals, and general hydraulic environments where brief or incidental oil contact is more realistic than continuous immersion. The result is a material that no single-property specialist — not EPDM, not NBR, not silicone — can fully replicate wherever both ozone/UV weathering and oil contact coexist in the same application.
Ozone resistance is similarly intrinsic. EPDM’s saturated backbone gives it superior ozone performance in purely outdoor weathering service, but CR’s chlorinated structure handles ozone well enough for the vast majority of weatherstripping, expansion joint, and marine seal applications — while also tolerating the oil and fuel exposures that would rapidly degrade EPDM. That balance is CR’s real selling point.