Cold rubber

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Cold rubber, or cold polymerized rubber, is

Cold rubber may be polymerized at temperatures of about -18°C to 5°C, as opposed to "hot rubber" polymerized at higher temperatures around 50°C.^[1] The polymerizing temperature is approximately 5°C in the case of SBR and 5~10°C in the case of NBR. Except some SBR and NBR used for special purposes, most SBR and NBR available in the market are considered cold rubber.^{[citation needed]}

Since rubber molecule types have a smaller number of branches than hot rubber and are characterized by good

History

Germany developed a polymerization process for cold rubber during

Polymer donated the polymerization recipe to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, and several North American petrochemical companies used this formula to manufacture their own versions of cold rubber.^[2] In the United States, the RFC launched a $3.5 million program in 1948 to boost the production of cold rubber, citing its better performance in tire treads.^[3]

However, tire manufacturers found the new rubber to be hard to process. In 1948, researcher Emmet Pfau of BFGoodrich tested a method of manufacturing rubber that added oil to the mix as an extender, lowering production costs and making the resultant rubber more plastic. BFGoodrich was uninterested in his findings, however, and Pfau left the company to join General Tire. General Tire, in collaboration with Polymer, began production of what would be called Polysar Krynol by 1951.^[2]

References