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
Rubber elasticity could be backwards or forwards, so the net time average formula_19 will be zero. However, one can use the root mean square as a useful measure of that distance. Ideally, the polymer chain's movement is purely entropic (no enthalpic, or heat-related, forces involved). By using the following basic equations for entropy and Helmholtz free energy, we can model the driving force of entropy "pulling" the polymer into an unstretched conformation. Note that the force equation resembles that of a spring: "F=kx". Note that the elastic coefficient formula_22 is temperature dependent. If we increase the rubber temperature, the elastic coefficient also