Vulcanisation natural rubber derivatives

Figure 11.15. Typical chemical groupings in a sulphur-vulcanised natural rubber network, (a) Monosulphide cross-link (b) disulphide cross-link (c) polysulphide cross-link (j = 3-6) (d) parallel vicinal cross-link (n = 1-6) attached to adjacent main-chain atoms and which have the same influence as a single cross-link (e) cross-links attached to common or adjacent carbon atom (f) intra-chain cyclic monosulphide (g) intra-chain cyclic disulphide (h) pendent sulphide group terminated by moiety X derived from accelerator (i) conjugated diene (j) conjugated triene (k) extra-network material (1) carbon-carbon cross-links (probably absent)...

Quinone and some of its derivatives may be used in the non-sulphur vulcanisation of natural rubber. The best-known derivative is para-quinone dioxime used as a curing agent for butyl rubbers. 

Macromolecular chemistry covers a particularly wide field which includes natural polymeric material, such as proteins, cellulose, gums and natural rubber industrial derivatives of natural polymers, such as sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, rayon and vulcanised rubber and the purely synthetic polymers, such as polythene (polyethylene), Teflon (polytetrafluoroethylene), polystyrene, Perspex (poly (methyl... 

Aryl naphthylamine derivatives are good general antioxidants with moderate volatility and negligible effect on cure. These give a small degree of fatigue protection in natural and polyisoprene rubbers, but little in styrene-butadiene and butadiene vulcanisates. 

Butyl rubber (IIR) is derived from polyisobutylene, a polymer which is not further mentioned in this chapter, which has a rubbery nature, but which can not be vulcanised in the conventional way with sulphur. This objection is taken away by copolymerisation with a small amount of isoprene. Butyl rubber has a very low resilience, but outrivals all other rubbers in resistance to gas permeation for that reason it is generally used for tyre inner tubes. 

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