Rubber: natural and vulcanization
Polymers · Chemistry
Study notes
Why is vulcanized rubber stronger than raw rubber? Step 1: Raw rubber: polyisoprene chains slide past each other → soft, sticky when hot. Step 2: Vulcanization: heating with sulfur forms S-bridges between chains (crosslinks). Step 3: Crosslinks prevent sliding but allow stretching → elastic, strong, temperature-stable. Step 4: ~5% S for tyres; more S → harder (ebonite). Crosslinking transforms!