Polymer ChemistryPolymers in and Around You |
What is vulcanization? |
Natural rubber that comes directly from rubber trees looks nothing like your car or bike tires. It’s sticky, doesn’t hold its shape when it gets warm, and if you live where it snows, it can get brittle. That sounds like an awful material to make a tire out of! Vulcanization creates crosslinks in the rubber with the addition of sulfur to the natural rubber chains and improves all of these properties.
