Some of the properties and uses of rubber were discovered by the Native South Americans long before the voyages of Columbus in 1492 made the knowledge available to Europe. For many years, the Spaniards tried to duplicate the water-resistant products (shoes, coats, and capes) of the Native South Americans, but they were unsuccessful. Rubber was merely a museum curiosity in Europe for the next two centuries.

In 1736 Charles Marie de La Condamine of France sent back several rolls of crude rubber, together with a description of the products fabricated from it by the people of the Amazon Valley. General scientific interest in the substance and its properties was revived. In 1770 the British chemist Joseph Priestley discovered that rubber can be used to erase pencil marks by rubbing, the property from which the name of the substance is derived. In 1791 the first commercial application of rubber was initiated when an English manufacturer, Samuel Peal, patented a method of waterproofing cloth by treating it with a solution of rubber in turpentine.

Development of Production Processes

In the United States, rubberized goods had become popular by the 1830s, and rubber bottles and shoes made by the Native South Americans were imported in substantial quantities. Other rubber articles were imported from England, and in 1832, at Roxbury, Massachusetts, John Haskins and Edward Chaffee organized the first rubber-goods factory in the United States. In 1839 the American inventor Charles Goodyear, using the findings of two chemists, discovered that cooking rubber with sulfur removed the gum's unfavorable properties, in a process called vulcanization. Vulcanized rubber has increased strength and elasticity and greater resistance to changes in temperature than un-vulcanized rubber.

Prolonged Rubber Life

The next great advance in rubber technology came in the early 20th century with the invention of the accelerated-aging oven for measuring rubber deterioration. This oven enabled rubber technologists to measure rapidly the deterioration caused by various conditions, especially exposure to atmospheric oxygen. The use of these ovens led scientists to add chemical agents called antioxidants to the rubber; this prolonged the useful life of heavy rubber articles such as automobile tires. Within a few years, new chemical compounds were created that markedly slowed the deterioration of soft rubber goods such as gloves, sheeting, and tubing.

The political and economic significance of natural rubber became evident when, during World War II, the supply from the Far East was terminated. The acute rubber shortage accelerated the development of synthetic rubber in various countries, notably the United States. In 1990, the world rubber production was more than 15 million metric tons; about 10 million metric tons of this rubber was synthetically made.

Synthetic Rubber

Any artificially produced substance that resembles natural rubber in essential chemical and physical properties can be called synthetic rubber. Such substances are produced by chemical reactions, known as condensation or polymerization, of certain unsaturated hydrocarbons. The basic units of synthetic rubber are monomers, which are compounds of relatively low molecular weight that form the building units of huge molecules called polymers (see Polymer). After fabrication, the synthetic rubber is cured by vulcanization.

One of the first successful synthetic rubbers was neoprene. Developed in 1931, neoprene has high resistance to heat and such chemicals as oils and gasoline. Neoprene is used in hose for conveying gasoline and as an insulating material for cables and in machinery.
Many other types of synthetic rubber are produced in the United States.
A few examples are Epdm, SBR, Butyl, Nitrile, Silicone, & Hypalon.

Information on this page courtesy of:
"Rubber," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2002
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