Tire for vehicle wheels

A tire for vehicle wheels comprising a tire component comprising a crosslinked elastomeric material obtained by crosslinking a crosslinkable elastomeric composition, wherein the elastomeric composition comprises a polymer blend comprising:

• (a) from 50 percent to 95 percent by weight of a first elastomeric polymer;
• and
• (b) from 5 percent to 50 percent by weight of a second elastomeric polymer;
• wherein the first elastomeric polymer (a) is obtainable by:
• (I) anionic polymerization of at least one conjugated diene monomer and one or more α-olefin monomer(s) in the presence of a polymerization initiator in an organic solvent;
• wherein the second elastomeric polymer (b) is obtainable by:
• (i) anionic polymerization of at least one conjugated diene monomer and one or more α-olefin monomer(s) in the presence of a polymerization initiator in an organic solvent, and (ii) coupling the polymer chains obtained in (i) by a coupling agent;
• wherein the first elastomeric polymer (a) has a weight-average molecular weight (Mw) ranging from 300,000 g/mol to 4,000,000 g/mol;
• wherein the second elastomeric polymer (b) has a weight-average molecular weight (Mw) ranging from 5,000 to g/mol 40,000 g/mol;
• wherein the at least one conjugated diene monomer of at least one of the first elastomeric polymer and the second elastomeric polymer is chosen from 1,3-butadiene, 2-alkyl-1,3-butadiene, 2-methyl-1,3-butadiene, 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene, 1,3-pentadiene, 2,4-hexadiene, 1,3-hexadiene, 1,3-heptadiene, 1,3-octadiene, 3-butyl-1,3-octadiene, 2-methyl-2,4-pentadiene, cyclopentadiene, 2,4-hexadiene, 2-phenyl-1,3-butadiene, 1,3-cyclooctadiene, and mixtures thereof;
• wherein the one or more α-olefin monomer of at least one of the first elastomeric polymer and the second elastomeric polymer is chosen from styrene, 1-vinylnaphthalene, 2-vinylnaphthalene, alkyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, alkyl derivative, arylalkyl derivatives of styrene, and mixtures thereof;
• wherein the first elastomeric polymer (a) is a styrene-butadiene-copolymer and the second elastomeric polymer (b) is a styrene-butadiene-copolymer;
• wherein an α-olefin content of the first elastomeric polymer ranges from 10% to 50% by weight and the vinyl content of the diene fraction of the first elastomeric copolymers range from 10% to 70% by weight;
• wherein an α-olefin content of the second elastomeric polymer ranges from 5% to 50% by weight and the vinyl content of the diene fraction of the second elastomeric copolymers ranges from 30% to 75% by weight;
• wherein a coupling rate of the second elastomeric polymer (b) is at least 50 percent by weight;
• wherein amounts of components (a) and (b) are based on the total weight of the polymer blend;
• and
• a degree of branching of the second elastomeric polymer is between 2 and 4.