RUBBER

Natural rubber :
Natural rubber is an elastomer (an elastic hydrocarbon polymer) that was
originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants
would be tapped, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk
colored latex sap collected and refined into a usable rubber. The purified form of natural
rubber is the chemical polyisoprene, which can also be produced synthetically. Natural
rubber is used extensively in many applications and products, as is synthetic rubber. It
is normally very stretchy and flexible and extremely waterproof.

Properties:
Rubber exhibits unique physical and chemical properties. Rubber's stress-strain
behavior exhibits the Mullins effect, the payne effect, and is often modeled as hyper
elastic. Rubber strain crystallizes.
Owing to the presence of a double bond in each repeat unit, natural rubber is sensitive
to ozone cracking.

Solvents:
There are two main solvents for rubber: turpentine (oil and resin derived from
certain coniferous trees) and naptha (petroleum). Because rubber does not dissolve
easily, the material is finely divided by shredding prior to its immersion ( act of covering
with a liquid).
An ammonia solution can be used to prevent the coagulation of raw latex while it is
being transported from its collection site.

Chemical Makeup:
Latex is a natural polymer of isoprene (most often cis-1,4-polyisoprene) with
a molecular weight of 100,000 to 1,000,000. Typically, a small percentage (up to 5% of
dry mass) of other materials, such as proteins, fatty acids, resins and inorganic
materials (salts) are found in natural rubber.
Some natural rubber sources called gutta-percha are composed of trans-1,4polyisoprene, a structural isomer which has similar, but not identical, properties.
Natural rubber is an elastomer and a thermoplastic. However, it should be noted that
once the rubber is vulcanized, it will turn into a thermoset. Most rubber in everyday use

is vulcanized to a point where it shares properties of both; i.e., if it is heated and cooled,
it is degraded but not destroyed.

Elasticity:
In most elastic materials, such as metals used in springs, the elastic behavior is caused
by bond distortions. When force is applied, bond lengths deviate from the (minimum
energy) equilibrium and strain energy is stored electrostatically. Rubber is often
assumed to behave in the same way, but it turns out this is a poor description. Rubber is
a curious material because, unlike metals, strain energy is stored thermally.
In its relaxed state, rubber consists of long, coiled-up polymer chains that
are interlinked at a few points. Between a pair of links, each monomer can rotate freely
about its neighbour, thus giving each section of chain leeway to assume a large number
of geometries, like a very loose rope attached to a pair of fixed points. At room
temperature, rubber stores enough kinetic energy so that each section of chain
oscillates chaotically, like the above piece of rope being shaken violently.

Uses:
The use of rubber is widespread, ranging from household to industrial products,
entering the production stream at the intermediate stage or as final products. Tires and
tubes are the largest consumers of rubber. The remaining 44% are taken up by the
general rubber goods (GRG) sector, which includes all products except tires and tubes .

Prehistoric Uses:
The first use of rubber was by the Olmecs, who centuries later passed on the
knowledge of natural latex from the Hevea tree in 1600 BC to the ancient Mayans. They
boiled the harvested latex to make a ball for a Mesoamerican ballgame.

Manufacturing:
Other significant uses of rubber are door and window profiles, hoses, belts, matting,
flooring and dampeners (antivibration mounts) for the automotive
industry. Gloves (medical, household and industrial) and toy balloons are also large
consumers of rubber, although the type of rubber used is that of the concentrated latex.
Significant tonnage of rubber is used as adhesives in many manufacturing industries
and products, although the two most noticeable are the paper and the carpet industries.
Rubber is also commonly used to make rubber bands and pencil erasers. Many aircraft
tires and inner tubes are still made of natural rubber due to the high cost of certification
for aircraft use of synthetic replacements.

Textile Applications:
Additionally, rubber produced as a fiber sometimes called elastic, has significant value
for use in the textile industry because of its excellent elongation and recovery
properties. For these purposes, manufactured rubber fiber is made as either an
extruded round fiber or rectangular fibers that are cut into strips from extruded film.
Because of its low dye acceptance, feel and appearance, the rubber fiber is either
covered by yarn of another fiber or directly woven with other yarns into the fabric.

Vulcanization:
Natural rubber is often vulcanized, method of treating crude rubber with sulphur
and exposing it to high temperatures to increase its durability and elasticity.
Carbon Black is often used as an additive to rubber to improve its strength, especially in
vehicle tires.

Allergic Reactions:
Some people have a serious latex allergy, and exposure to certain natural rubber latex
products such as latex gloves can cause anaphylactic (Hypersensitive)
shock. Guayule latex is hypoallergenic and is being researched as a substitute to the
allergy-inducing Hevea latexes. Unlike the sappable Hevea tree, these relatively small
shrubs must be harvested whole and latex extracted from each cell. Chemical
processes may also be employed to reduce the amount of antigenic
protein in Hevea latex, resulting in alternative Hevea-based materials such Vytex
Natural Rubber Latex that, while not completely hypoallergenic, do provide lessened
exposure to latex allergens.
Some allergic reactions are not from the latex but from residues of other ingredients
used to process the latex into clothing, gloves, foam, etc. These allergies are usually
referred to as multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS).

FUELS
Fuel:
Fuel is any material that stores energy that can later be extracted to perform mechanical
work in a controlled manner. Most fuels used by humans undergo combustion, a redox
reactions in which a combustible substance releases energy after it ignites and reacts
with the oxygen in the air. Other processes used to convert fuel into energy include
various other exothermic chemical reactions and nuclear reactions, such as nuclear
fission or nuclear fusion. Fuels are also used in the cells of organisms in a process
known as cellular respiration, where organic molecules are oxidized to release usable
energy. Hydrocarbons are by far the most common source of fuel used by humans, but
many other substances, such as radioactive metals, are currently used as well.

Chemical Fuels:
Chemical fuels are substances that release energy by reacting with substances around
them, most notably by the process of oxidation.

Biofuels:

Biofuel can be broadly defined as solid, liquid, or gas fuel consisting of, or derived
from biomass. Biomass can also be used directly for heating or powerknown
as biomass fuel. Biofuel can be produced from any carbon source that can be
replenished rapidly e.g. plants. Many different plants and plant-derived materials are
used for biofuel manufacture.
Recently biofuels have been developed for use in automotive transport (for example
Bioethanol and Biodiesel) , but there is widespread public debate about how efficient
these fuels are.

Fossil Fuels:
Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons, primarily coal and petroleum (liquid petroleum or natural
gas), formed from the fossilized remains of ancient plants and animals by exposure to
high heat and pressure in the absence of oxygen in the Earth's crust over hundreds of
millions of years. Commonly, the term fossil fuel also includes hydrocarboncontaining natural resources that are not derived entirely from biological sources, such
as tar sands. These latter sources are properly known as mineral fuels.

Nuclear Fuels:
Nuclear fuel is any material that is consumed to derive nuclear energy. Technically
speaking this definition includes all matter because any element will under the right
conditions release nuclear energy, the only materials that are commonly referred to as
nuclear fuels though are those that will produce energy without being placed under
extreme duress.

Fission:
The most common type of nuclear fuel used by humans is heavy fissile elements that
can be made to undergo nuclear fission chain reactions in a nuclear fission
reactor; nuclear fuel can refer to the material or to physical objects (for example fuel
bundles composed of fuel rods) composed of the fuel material, perhaps mixed with
structural, neutron moderating, or neutron reflecting materials. The most common fissile
nuclear fuels are 235U and 239Pu, and the actions of mining, refining, purifying, using, and
ultimately disposing of these elements together make up the nuclear fuel cycle, which is
important for its relevance to nuclear power generation and nuclear weapons. In
addition there are various types of fuels .

Fusion:
Fuels that produce energy by the process of nuclear fusion are currently not utilized by
man but are the main source of fuel for stars, the most powerful energy sources in

nature. Fusion fuels tend to be light elements such as hydrogen which will combine
easily.
In stars that undergo nuclear fusion, fuel consists of atomic nuclei that can release
energy by the absorption of a protonor neutron. In most stars the fuel is provided by
hydrogen, which can combine together to form helium through the proton-proton chain
reaction or by the CNO cycle. When the hydrogen fuel is exhausted, nuclear fusion can
continue with progressively heavier elements, although the net energy released is lower
because of the smaller difference in nuclear binding energy. Once iron-56 or nickel-56
nuclei are produced, no further energy can be obtained by nuclear fusion as these have
the highest nuclear binding energies.