synthetic rubber
Sign in to saveAlso known as artificial rubber, synthetic latex, artificial latex, rubber, synthetic elastomer, artificial elastomer
any artificial elastomer
Wikidata facts
Show 3 more facts
- fabrication method
- chemical synthesis
- opposite of
- natural rubber
- discoverer or inventor
- Wallace Carothers
via Wikidata · CC0
~7 min read
Encyclopedic overview
A synthetic rubber is an artificial elastomer. They are polymers synthesized from petroleum byproducts. About 32 million tonnes (35 million short tons; 31 million long tons) of rubber is produced annually in the United States, and of that amount two thirds are synthetic. Synthetic rubber, just like natural rubber, has many uses in the automotive industry for tires, door and window profiles, seals such as O-rings and gaskets, hoses, belts, matting, and flooring. They offer a different range of physical and chemical properties which can improve the reliability of a given product or application. Synthetic rubbers are superior to natural rubbers in two major respects: thermal stability, and resistance to oils and related compounds. They are more resistant to oxidizing agents, such as oxygen and ozone which can reduce the life of products like tires. Synthetic rubber is made from chemicals unlike other rubber that comes from tree sap.
History
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “synthetic rubber” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.