What is the process for making rubber?

Answer 1

Process for Making Rubber

You may be referring to vulcanization, the process that takes the native rubber of the rubber-tree plant and removes sulfur while heating it. This strengthens the material, allowing it to withstand higher temperatures and stay flexible in the cold.

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Synthetic Rubber uses vulcanization also!

Answer

This is a harder question to answer than you think it is, because very little "rubber" is made from latex. Most of it's made by polymerizing petrochemicals such as butadiene.

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History

The discovery of natural rubber

In the year 1495, long before the German Chemist, Fritz Hofmann, in 1909 had his first success with the manufacture of synthetic rubber Christopher Columbus was watching indigenous people of Haiti playing with an elastic ball, something no European had, allegedly, ever seen before. Columbus is said to have been much amused by this sport with a bouncing ball. This was the beginning of Soon after this wondrous stuff became the subject of myths and speculation around the world.

The Amerindians had been quite familiar with the properties of this natural product. Possibly more than 2000 years ago they learned to tap rubber trees and lianas growing within a few degrees of latitude north and south of the equator, developed methods to collect the white, sticky tap, and to dry and cure it by smoking to win a substance that could be used to make bouncing balls, elastic bottles, waterproof clothing, footwear, and cult figures.

However, it was not Christopher Columbus who first wrote about natural rubber, but the Italian historian, Pietro Martire d'Anghiera, who called the substance "gummi optima" and also described how it was collected by the native Americans.

The other name for India rubber, "caoutchouc", is derived from the native word "cau-utchu", meaning "weeping tree". It was probably the French explorer, Charles de la Condamine, who in 1735/6 described the collecting of "latex" (from French "lait" for milk) and gave the name "caoutchouc" to the cured substance. After him many scientists studied the collecting and processing of rubber and its possible applications, thus establishing the basis for its exploitation during the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century when inventors and industrialists finally began to discover the potentials of this versatile stuff. The American entrepreneur, Charles Goodyear, is considered to be one of these pioneers. In Part 2 of this series, you can learn more about the "Father of Gum Elastic".

Charles Goodyear invents the vulcanization

When the Italian historian Pietro Martire d'Anghiera made rubber known in Europe in the 16th century, European researchers were quickly fascinated by the material. However, it was practically impossible to transport natural rubber over long distances at this time. Only in the 18th century, scientists discovered a method to make it more durable - they dissolved it in turpentine.

Industrial use of rubber began on a grand scale in the 19th century. Fire hoses, waterproof tarpaulins and raincoats were developed, yet the material remained problematic at first: The rubber became soft and molten at high temperatures and brittle and crumbly in the cold.

Far-reaching discovery while experimenting on the home stove

This only changed with Charles Goodyears' invention of vulcanization. The American was completely obsessed with rubber and the question of how he could make this difficult-to-handle and strong-smelling material more durable. In the poorest of conditions he conducted experiments in his New York kitchen. And there he also made - at least, according to the legend - the discovery that changed the world of rubber forever.

Together with his partner Nathaniel Hayward he experimented with sulfur, which eliminated the rubber's tackiness. The breakthrough reportedly followed a domestic argument. His wife repeatedly complained about the stench and the chaotic conditions in the cramped kitchen. So when he wanted to hide one of his mixtures of rubber and sulfurous powder, he shoved it into the hot oven. Through this vulcanization in heat, the rubber became elastic. It no longer smelled, it remained dry even at high temperatures and it kept its flexibility even in cold conditions.

The obsession of Charles Goodyear

In 1844, Goodyear received the patent for his "metallic gum elastic composition", which was only later named vulcanization and launched a huge promotional campaign for his rubber. In his euphoria, Goodyear imagined a world made out of rubber. From his point of view, rubber was suitable for virtually every product, including furniture inlays. However, it was hardly possible to put everything in practise.

A genius as an inventor, Goodyear was a poor businessman. Despite constant new inventions, he was always on the brink of bankruptcy. He was completely impoverished when he died in 1860, at the age of 60, presumably also due to the toxic vapors from his numerous experiments. Yet Goodyear's name lives on to the present day in the rubber industry. In 1898, the brothers Frank and Charles Seyberling founded a rubber factory in Ohio and named it Goodyear.

The first rubber to come out of a laboratory is discovered

One hundred years ago the German chemist Fritz Hofmann along with his assistant Carl Coutelle - also a doctor of chemistry - invented the first synthetic rubber. It was a time when it seemed as though there were no boundaries to the wealth of human invention. A multitude of discoveries and technical developments were being made - for example in 1908 Ford built the first "car for everybody", the Model T.

The economic, political and scientific conditions were ideal for Hofmann's invention: At the beginning of the 20th century industrialization and mechanization had led to a rapid rise in demand; natural rubber became dramatically more expensive and harder to come by. At the same time the German drive for self-sufficiency grew stronger. The German people wanted to become independent of foreign countries and their colonies and pushed the search for substitutes for existing natural products. Hofmann later wrote: "I saw a task before me to create by synthesis that which was missing in my own country".

In this situation Hofmann and his team found a supporter in their boss, Carl Duisberg, who recognized the importance of the research on synthetically manufactured rubber. The company management had even announced a prize of 20,000 Marks for the first synthetically produced rubber. When Hofmann began this work in 1906 he had been employed for almost ten years by "Elberfelder Farbenfabriken (formerly Friedr. Bayer & Co.)", whose tradition is carried on today at LANXESS.

As head of the various research laboratories he worked meticulously on new formulations and solutions. In 1909 Hofmann succeeded in producing the flexible substance methyl isoprene and thereby laid the cornerstone for synthetic rubber. You can read more about Hofmann's invention in the next part of our series.

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