Synthetic rubber

Synthetic rubber

Synthetic rubber refers to all
elastomers
that are not
natural rubber
and is a product of organic chemistry. It is produced from heavy gasoline (naphtha), which is extracted from crude oil in refineries. The building blocks (monomers) of the heavy petrol are polymerized and then converted into a rubber by vulcanization. The monomer (smallest molecular unit) can be varied in different ways, which explains the wide range of different synthetic rubbers and properties.