Rubber
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Rubber (sometimes called latex rubber) is the common name of a chemical substance with the ability to shrink and stretch. Technically, it is a polymer naturally found as a milky liquid (known as latex) in the sap of several types of plants, mainly Hevea brasiliensis (Euphorbiaceae). People may also make artificial rubber from mineral oil. To distinguish the tree-obtained version of natural rubber from the synthetic version, the term gum rubber is sometimes used. Some common things made from rubber are gloves, tires, plugs, and masks.
[change] Producers
Hevea brasiliensis is the main source of natural latex because it produces more latex after the first cuts. Other plants containing latex include figs (Ficus elastica), Castilla (Panama rubber tree), euphorbias, lettuce, the common dandelion, Taraxacum kok-saghyz (Russian dandelion), Scorzonera tau-saghyz, and Guayule.
South America was the main source of latex rubber during much of the 19th century. However, in 1876 Henry Wickham gathered thousands of seeds from Brazil to Kew Gardens, England, and sent the to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Indonesia, Singapore and British Malaya. Later, Malaya (now Malaysia) became the biggest producer of rubber. Experimental efforts to grow rubber in India were started as early as 1873 at the Botanical Gardens, Kolkata. The first commercial Hevea plantations in India were established at Thattekadu in Kerala in 1902. The Congo Free State in Africa was also a significant source of natural rubber latex at the beginning of the 20th century, mostly gathered by forced labor. Liberia and Nigeria also started production of rubber.
[change] Industrial development
Charles Marie de La Condamine presented samples of rubber to the Académie Royale des Sciences of France in 1736.[1] In 1751 François Fresneau read a paper to the Académie (eventually published in 1755) which described many of the properties of rubber. This has been referred to as the first scientific paper on rubber.[1]
In 1770 British chemist Joseph Priestley noticed that was very good for removing pencil marks on paper.
Natural rubber melts in heat and freeze in the cold, making it useless for many products.[needs proving] In 1844 Charles Goodyear found a way to improve natural rubber, in a chemical process known as vulcanization.
