Sulfur vulcanization had found hundreds of applications for his additive. Thus, the science of accelerators and retarders was born. An accelerator speeds up the cure reaction, while a retarder delays it. A typical retarder is cyclohexylthiophthalimide. In the subsequent century chemists developed other accelerators and ultra-accelerators, which are used in the manufacture of most modern rubber goods. Sulfur vulcanization Sulfur vulcanization or sulfur vulcanisation is a chemical process for converting natural rubber or related polymers into more durable materials by heating them with sulfur or other equivalent curatives or accelerators. Sulfur forms cross-links (bridges) between sections of polymer chain which results in
Union Sulphur Company land. He assumed that the sulfur deposits extended laterally underneath his property, and he planned to extract the sulfur with a new method. He would insert three pipes down into the sulfur. Super-heated water would be pumped down one pipe to melt the sulfur, and compressed air would be pumped down another pipe. The increased pressure from the compressed air would then force the molten sulfur up through the empty third pipe. Upon drilling on his property, however, Frasch discovered that the sulfur was only located beneath the American Sulphur Company property. The American Sulfur Company was not a fly-by-night