Technology of

elastomer
The scientific name for rubber tree is
caoutchouc, which is derived from the
word caaochu meaning ‘weeping tree’.
Natural latex contains,
(1) 30-35% rubber,
(2) 2-3% proteins and lipids,
(3) 0.3% resin and
(4) 1.5-4% glycosides
An elastomer is a polymer that exhibits rubber elastic
properties, i.e. a material that can be stretched to
several times its original length without breaking and
which, upon release of the stress, immediately returns
to its original length.

Rubbers are almost elastic materials, i.e. their

deformation is instantaneous and they show almost no
creep.

The unique character of rubber was discovered in

1305 by John Gough.
History
Although thousands of plant species contain
rubber in small amounts but only a few
species generate enough rubber to make
them commercially attractive.
In fact. only
Helm Drcrsiliensis &
Pertheniun~ argentaturn (guayule) have been
used commercially in modern times and are
likely to be used in the immediate future.
Natural rubber obtained from trees was the only source of
rubber until the advent of the synthetic polymers in the early
part of the twentieth century. When Europeans first landed in
South America, they observed the local people playing with a
crude bouncing ball made by drying a material that oozed out
of certain trees when their bark was cut. Locally it was known
as ‘Cachuc’, meaning ‘weeping wood’, from which are
derived the Spanish ‘Caucho’, French ‘Cauotchouc’ and
German ‘Kautschuk’. The elasticity and waterproofing ability
of the material attracted attention of the scientists in Europe.
The English scientist Joseph Priestley coined the word
‘Rubber’, because the material could rub out pencil marks. In
the early days, rubber products behaved like thermoplastics,
which became hard in winter and soft and sticky in summer.
In 1839 Charles Goodyear in the USA, discovered
that when rubber was heated with sulphur it
became stronger and more elastic, but more
importantly it was no longer susceptible to changes
in temperature. At about the same time, Thomas
Hancock in the United Kingdom made the same
discovery independently. The process became
known as vulcanisation (from ‘Vulcan’, the God
of Fire). Hancock is also recognised as the pioneer
in designing rubber processing machinery. He
masticated rubber on two-roll mills, whereupon it
became soft and tacky, and articles could be built
up from multiple pieces of the masticated rubber.
The pneumatic tyre was patented by John Dunlop in England
in 1888. Up to 1890, the production of rubber was low and its
cost was high. The only source of rubber then was the remote
jungles of South America. In 1870 Sir Henry Wickham
collected seedlings of Hevea brasiliensis from Brazil. He
germinated them at Kew Gardens in London and then started
planting them in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Malay (Malaysia) and
Indo-China (Vietnam). By 1920 these countries produced 90
per cent of the world’s supply of rubber. Soon other countries
in the region, including the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand
and India became rubber producers. Over the years, production
of natural rubber in Latin America became insignificant but
the rubber industry continued to grow with the development of
rubber plantations in Asia.
Synthetic rubbers were first produced in Germany in
the 1930s. During the Second World War, interruption
of the supply of natural rubber prompted the United
States industry to take on the challenge of developing
methods for bulk production of synthetic rubbers. The
United States production of GR-S (Government
Rubber Styrene also known as the general purpose
styrene-butadiene rubber, SBR, used for tyres) was
over 700,000 tonnes in 1945. In 1946 the world
production of synthetic rubber had grown to over
900,000 tonnes in comparison to 555,000 tonnes of
natural rubber.
 Introduction
Introduction
 The words rubber come from the materials
from the rubber tree name “Havea
Brasiliensis”
 The difference between raw rubber and
vulcanized rubber or elastomer:
1. Raw rubber either natural rubber or synthetic
rubber are materials that has plastic properties
and can be reshaping at high temperature and
not sutaible for applications.
1. Elastomer is the words that used for vulcanized
rubber, vulcanisate or crosslinking rubber
Raw
Rawrubber
rubbervs
vsElastomer
Elastomer

Raw rubber – no crosslinking

Elastomer – crosslinking
 In beginning all product from rubber
are made from natural rubber that
produced from materials from natural
rubber tree called latex.
 Synthetic rubber are produced from
reactions of low molecular weight
materials called monomer to produced
long chain molecule called polymer
 Elastic properties are produced by mix
raw rubber with specific additives
during rubber compounding
 When rubber was heated the chemical reactions
occur call vulcanization or curing.
 Process were rubber molecules were tied together
at specific place called crosslinks
 The crosslinks will prevent the slippaged of
molecules.
 Elastomer are elastic materials that can deformed
when forced being applied and back to the original
shape when release the forced.
 The words elastomer comes from ‘elastic
polymer’.
Function
Functionof
ofcrosslinks
crosslinks

Stretch

Retract
Elastomers

Polymers capable of large elastic

deformation when subjected to
relatively low stresses
 Some can be extended 500% or more
and still return to their original shape
 Two categories:
1. Natural rubber - derived from biological
plants
2. Synthetic polymers - produced by
polymerization processes similar to those
used for thermoplastic and thermosetting
Characteristics of Elastomers

 Elastomers consist of long-chain

molecules that are cross-linked (like
thermosetting polymers)
 They owe their impressive elastic
properties to two features:
1. Molecules are tightly kinked when unstretched
2. Degree of cross-linking is substantially less
than thermosets
Figure 8.12 - Model of long elastomer molecules,
with low degree of cross-linking: (a) unstretched,
and (b) under tensile stress
Elastic Behavior of Elastomer
Molecule
When stretched, the molecules are forced
to uncoil and straighten
Natural resistance to uncoiling provides
the initial elastic modulus of the aggregate
material
Under further strain, the covalent bonds of
the cross-linked molecules begin to play
an increasing role in the modulus, and
stiffness increases
With greater cross-linking, the elastomer
becomes stiffer and its modulus of
Figure 8.13 - Increase in stiffness as a function of
strain for three grades of rubber: natural rubber,
vulcanized rubber, and hard rubber
 Rubber
Rubberprocessing
processing

Raw Rubber

Mastication process
Compounding

Rubber Compound

Forming process
Vulcanization process

Vulcanize rubber/
End product
 Mastication
MasticationProcess
Process
 Mastication is mechanical shearing process
using two roll mill or internal mixer) for
 Reduced the molecular weight,
 Reduced the viscosity and
 To soften the raw rubber.

 After mastication  the processing will be

much easier and increased the effectiveness
of dispersions of compounding ingredients.
 The mastication is compulsory for natural
rubber due to high molecular weight in nature
(around 105-106 )
*Mastication is sometimes carried out in a machine
resembling a powerful churn or sausage machine.
*For most purposes rollers are employed similar to or
identical with the mixing rollers.
*Mixing is always preceded by a masticating process,
introduced in order to soften the rubber. The dried rubber
is passed repeatedly between a pair of hollow rollers,
which can either be heated internally by steam, or cooled
by passing cold water through the cavity.
*The rollers revolve at different rates, and the distance
between them is adjustable.
*The rollers are gradually brought closer together
until the soft rubber adheres to the slower moving
roller and pass round with it, being subjected to a
kneading process as it passes the second roller, which
revolves more rapidly.
*At the beginning of the process the rollers are
warmed, but later on friction may give rise to so much
heat that it is necessary to pass cold water into the
interior of the rollers.
*The whole process thus calls for considerable skill
and judgment on the part of the operator in regulating
both the temperature and the action of the machine.
 Compounding
CompoundingProcess
Process
 Rubbercompounding is the way of
making useful products from raw
rubber
 The process involved the addition of
additives to change the masticated raw
rubber to rubber compound before a
forming process.
 The compounding process used the
two roll mill and internal mixer