Rubber & Rubber Products

Chronology

Natural rubber is a polymer of isoprene (Isoprene is a common synonym for the chemical compound 2-methylbuta-1,3-diene.) - most often cis-1,4-polyisoprene - with a molecular weight of 100,000 to 1,000,000.   Typically, a few percent of other materials, such as proteins, fatty acids, resins and inorganic materials are found in high quality natural rubber.

Natural rubber that is made into clothing and footwear is impervious to water and water rotting.   Its resiliency makes it conformable to shapes and in bulk it acts as a cussion.   However, rubber becomes too soft in hot weather and too hard and brittle in cold weather, so it was not very useful.   It was not until 1839, when the American inventor, Charles Goodyear, inadvertently discovered that adding sulfur to rubber allowed it to remain flexible at high and low temperatures.   He called the mixture vulcanized rubber. ^{Asimov 340}   Vulcanized rubber became highly useful for many kinds of products, including automobile tires.

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