Rubber Makers Sulfur

Charles Goodyear discovered that elemental sulfur could be used to vulcanize (cure) natural rubber in 1839. Rubber maker s sulfur is now, by far, the most common vulcanizing agent used by the rubber industry. 

Sulfur is a byproduct of the natural gas industry because toxic hydrogen sulfide gas must be removed from sour natural gas before it can be used. 

Perhaps 80 to 90% of the sulfur used by the rubber industry is recovered sulfur from natural gas or petroleum. 

Rubber maker s sulfur Sulfur Brimstone Rhombic sulfur 

ASTM D4528 classifies different grades of ground sulfur for use in rubber. 

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Grade Technical (lumps, roll, flour), rubber maker s, NF (sublimed), crude, refined, precipitated (milk of sulfur), high purity (impurities less than 10 ppm), also available in prilled form. 

Rubber maker s sulfur is by far the most commonly used vulcanizing agent for curing rubber. Elemental sulfur cures impart advantages in flex fatigue, scorch safety time, and cost versus other vulcanizing agents such as peroxides. 

Even though stabilized insoluble sulfur costs significantly more than rubber maker s sulfur, many rubber fabricators feel it is worth it because the insoluble sulfur normally does not bloom, especially for compounds where high levels of sulfur are beneficial for rubber-to-metal bonding, but sulfur bloom might be detrimental. 

Sulfur dioxide is used as a feedstock to produce recovered sulfur, which is used to make rubber maker s sulfur. ... 

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