Types of Rubber
No one is ignorant
of rubber and rubber products. Rubber has, in fact, become an indispensable
part of everyone's life. So, lets know about the different
types of
rubber used for making industrial rubber goods as well as consumer and
daily use products.
What is Rubber?
Technically speaking, rubber is a natural
polymer of Isoprene (usually cis-1,4-polyisoprene). It is hydrocarbon
polymer occurring as milky latex in the sap of various plants and can also
be made synthetically. A small percentage (about 5%) of other materials like
proteins, fatty acids, resins and inorganic materials (salts) are also
present in natural rubber. Rubber, as mentioned earlier too, can also be
made artificially or synthetically. The type of rubber which is produced
artificially is called synthetic rubber.
In simple terms, rubber can be defined as a sticky, elastic solid which is
produced from a milky liquid known as latex obtained from various types of
rubber trees.
Different Types of Rubber
There are basically two broad
categories into which the rubber types can be placed. These are- Natural
Rubber and Synthetic Rubber. Sometimes vulcanized rubber is also taken to be
a type of rubber. Lets know about all these types of rubber.
Natural Rubber
The elastic material which is obtained from
the latex sap of trees is called
natural rubber. Natural rubber can be
vulcanized and finished into a various types of rubber products. Various
types of tropical and sub-tropical trees in the regions of Amazon, South
East Asia and Africa produce the milky fluid latex that are in the form of
latex tubes. The rubber molecules present in these latex tubes are made up
of 5 carbon and 8 hydrogen atoms. A large number of these rubber molecules
are joined with each other to form long, chain-like structure. This chain of
rubber molecules is called polymers that gives rubber its property of
elasticity.
Synthetic Rubber
Any kind of artificial elastomer (a
polymer) is called
synthetic rubber. An elastomer can be
defined as a material having the property of elasticity. Thus, the type of
rubber made from chemicals to act as the substitute for natural rubber is
the synthetic rubber. There are various types of polymers used for making
synthetic rubber types. Due to this, different types of synthetic rubbers
have different properties that are tailored for specific needs of rubber
products industries. To have an idea about these different synthetic
rubbers, read about the
Types of
Synthetic Rubber
Manufacturers, Suppliers of All Types of Rubber
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database of manufacturers and suppliers of all types of rubber and rubber
materials. For bulk requirement of natural rubber, vulcanized rubber as well
as for all types of synthetic rubber, send us online enquiry and get prompt
response from genuine rubber manufacturers and suppliers.
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Vulcanized Rubber
Vulcanized rubber, though made from
natural rubber, is sometimes taken to be a separate kind of rubber. Natural
rubber, in its original form, is not suitable for industrial or commercial
purposes. In fact, natural rubber has many such properties that decreases
its usability as commercial rubber type. For example, it has too much water
absorption capacity, low tensile strength, very low abrasion resistance and
it is easily affected by organic reagents too. Therefore, the process of
vulcanization is used to improve the properties of natural rubber and to
convert it into a useful industrial rubber type.
Vulcanization, thus, is the chemical process used for converting rubber or
related polymers into more durable materials by adding sulfur or equivalent
curatives. Vulcanized type of rubber material is less sticky and has
superior mechanical properties than natural rubber. The hardness of
vulcanized rubber depends upon the amount of sulpher used during the process
and the degree of this hardness determines as to which industry could use
the vulcanized rubber for making various products. For example, if 5% of
sulphur is used during vulcanization, it will produce tyre rubber. Ebonite
is made by adding 20 to 25% sulphur and battery case rubber is made by
adding 30% of Sulphur during vulcanization. Other products made from hard
vulcanized rubber include bowling balls and saxophone mouth pieces etc. Less
harder vulcanized rubber is used for making various household and industrial
rubber products like shoe soles, hoses etc.
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