Vulcanization Vulcanization Vulcanization (British: vulcanisation) is a chemical process used to harden rubber. Vulcanization traditionally referred to the treatment of natural rubber with sulfur and this remains the most common example, however the term has also grown to include the hardening of other (synthetic) rubbers via various means. Examples include silicone rubber via room temperature vulcanizing and chloroprene rubber (neoprene) using metal oxides. Vulcanisation can therefore be defined as the curing of elastomers; with the terms 'vulcanization' and 'curing' sometimes used interchangeably in this context. It works by forming cross-links between sections of polymer chain which results in increased rigidity and
Sulfur 14th century the Latin ' was restored, for '; and by the 15th century the full Latin spelling was restored, for "sulfur, sulphur". The parallel "f~ph" spellings continued in Britain until the 19th century, when the word was standardized as "sulphur". "Sulfur" was the form chosen in the United States, whereas Canada uses both. The IUPAC adopted the spelling "sulfur" in 1990, as did the Nomenclature Committee of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 1992, restoring the spelling "sulfur" to Britain. Oxford Dictionaries note that "in chemistry and other technical uses ... the "-f-" spelling is now the standard form