Energy use due to automobile tires accounts for more than 6% of the world's total energy consumption and ~5% of all carbon dioxide emissions. We designed and fabricated a next-generation, energy-saving advanced elastomer (AE) based on a macromolecular assembly strategy. This AE delicately balances rolling resistance, wear resistance and wet-skid resistance, addressing the so-called “magic triangle” that has plagued the tire industry for more than century. This AE crosslinks anionically synthesized hydroxyl-terminated solution-polymerized styrene-butadiene copolymers with highly symmetric isocyanates and polyols to generate a uniform network by macromolecular self-assembly. Remarkably, compared with those of widely commercialized elastomer nanocomposites tailored for “green tires”, the wear resistance, rolling resistance and wet-skid resistance of this AE are improved by 94.6%, 69.8% and 13.8%, respectively. This AE affords a new opportunity for the large-scale application of next-generation high-performance automobile tires that will, in part, resolve a serious global energy and environmental crisis.

汽车轮胎所产生的能源使用量占全球总能耗的6％以上，约占所有二氧化碳排放量的5％。我们根据大分子组装策略设计和制造了下一代节能高级弹性体（AE）。这种AE可以很好地平衡滚动阻力，耐磨性和抗湿滑性，解决了困扰轮胎行业长达一个多世纪的所谓“魔术三角”。该AE使阴离子合成的羟基封端的溶液聚合的苯乙烯-丁二烯共聚物与高度对称的异氰酸酯和多元醇交联，以通过大分子自组装产生均匀的网络。值得注意的是，与专为“绿色轮胎”量身定制的广泛商业化的弹性体纳米复合材料相比，其耐磨性，该AE的滚动阻力和抗湿滑性分别提高了94.6％，69.8％和13.8％。该AE为大规模应用下一代高性能汽车轮胎提供了新的机遇，这将部分解决严重的全球能源和环境危机。