Rubber technology

Most rubber products are vulcanized, a process which involves heating with a small quantity of sulphur (or equivalent cross-linking agent) so as to stabilise the polymer chains, over a wide range of temperature.

This discovery was made by Charles Goodyear in the 1844, but is a process restricted to polymer chains having a double bond in the backbone.

However, the elastomeric state is unstable because chains can slip past one another resulting in creep or stress relaxation under static or dynamic load conditions.

Chemical cross links add the stability to the network that is needed for most practical applications.

It is converted into a dough-like mixture which is called "compound" then milled into sheets of desired thickness.