Rubber

:This article is about the material rubber, for other uses see Rubber (disambiguation)

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Rubber is an elastic hydrocarbon polymer which occurs as a milky emulsion (known as latex) in the sap of a number of plants but can also be produced synthetically. The major commercial source of the latex used to create rubber is the Para rubber tree, Hevea brasiliensis (Euphorbiaceae). This is largely because it responds to wounding by producing more latex.

Related Topics:
Hydrocarbon - Polymer - Emulsion - Latex - Para rubber tree - Euphorbiaceae

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Other plants containing latex include figs (Ficus elastica), euphorbias, and the common dandelion. Although these have not been major sources of rubber, Germany attempted to use such sources during World War II when it was cut off from rubber supplies. These attempts were latter supplanted by the development of synthetic rubber.

Related Topics:
Fig - Ficus elastica - Euphorbia - Dandelion - Germany - World War II - Synthetic rubber

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In places like Kerala, where coconuts are in abundance, the shell of half a coconut is used as the collection container for the latex. The shells are attached to the tree via a short sharp stick and the latex drips down into it overnight. This usually produces latex up to a level of half to three quarters of the shell. The latex from multiple trees are then poured into flat pans and this is mixed with formic acid, which serves as a coagulant. After a few hours, the very wet sheets of rubber are wrung out by putting them through a press before they are sent onto factories where vulcanization and further processing is done.

Related Topics:
Kerala - Formic acid - Vulcanization

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Aside from a few natural product impurities, natural rubber is essentially a polymer of isoprene units, a hydrocarbon diene monomer. Synthetic rubber can be made as a polymer of isoprene or various other monomers. Rubber is believed to have been named by Joseph Priestley, who discovered in 1770 that dried latex rubbed out pencil marks. The material properties of rubber make it an elastomer.

Related Topics:
Isoprene - Diene - Monomer - Joseph Priestley - 1770 - Elastomer

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