Rubber decomposition short note
Answers
Answer:
The downside is that synthetic rubber is not at all biodegradable because it is made from inorganic materials. Because natural rubber is plant-based, the key advantage is that it is biodegrade, and a renewable resource. Rubber is fascinating. ... Rubber has been harvested this way for more than 3,500 years.
Answer:
Natural rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, caucho or caoutchouc, as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds, plus water. Thailand and Indonesia are two of the leading rubber producers. Types of polyisoprene that are used as natural rubbers are classified as elastomers.
Photo of pieces of natural rubber in a glass jar.
Pieces of natural vulcanized rubber at Hutchinson's Research and Innovation Center in France.
Latex being collected from a tapped rubber tree, Cameroon
Rubber tree plantation in Thailand
Currently, rubber is harvested mainly in the form of the latex from the rubber tree or others. The latex is a sticky, milky colloid drawn off by making incisions in the bark and collecting the fluid in vessels in a process called "tapping". The latex then is refined into rubber that is ready for commercial processing. In major areas, latex is allowed to coagulate in the collection cup. The coagulated lumps are collected and processed into dry forms for sale.
Natural rubber is used extensively in many applications and products, either alone or in combination with other materials. In most of its useful forms, it has a large stretch ratio and high resilience, and is extremely waterproof.