Imagine a world without rubber - neither tyres for motoring or flying, nor bouncing balls for sports, neither seals for washing machines and dishwashers, nor medical gloves, no elastic! This unique book tells the fascinating story of four thousand years of rubber - from its significance in Mayan religious rituals and culture to its pivotal role in today's world. It is seen through the lives of the adventurers and scientists who promoted it, lusted after it, and eventually tamed it into the ubiquitous and crucial material of our lives today. At the same time, it includes the lives of those who caused the deaths of millions of natives in Africa and South America whilst seeking to satisfy the developing world's lust for this wonderful new material as well as their nemeses. As with any biography, this book considers old age, why rubber deteriorates and how the ravages of time may be ameliorated. In death, it deals with our current concern for the environment and various options for 'waste disposal'. For the majority of people, rubber is mostly an unknown history and even for those who think they know 'the truth' about rubber, this book may offer many surprises.

The enormous size of polymer molecules causes their molecular motions to span a broad range of length scales and give rise to viscoelastic behavior. This rate-dependence of the properties is a predominant characteristic of soft materials (rubbers, biopolymers, lubricants, adhesives, etc.). Improving the performance and developing new applications for soft materials require an understanding of the basic principles of how molecular motions underlie physical properties.
This text is intended to provide grounding in fundamental aspects of the dynamic behavior of rubbery materials, adopting a molecular perspective in its treatment to emphasize how microscopic processes are connected to the observed macroscopic behavior. The latest discoveries and advances in the science and technology of rubbery materials are described and critically analyzed.

The chemicals manufacturing industry is a vibrant, global business that encompasses many important sectors: from commodity chemicals, to specialty chemicals, to custom manufacturing. Key topics include global trade, finance and acquisitions, biochemicals, nanochemicals, polymers, petrochemicals, fertilizers, plastics, coatings, ceramics, solvents, additives, dyes and many other products basic to home and business needs. In addition, the pharmaceuticals industry is included when discussing chemicals. Plunkett's Chemicals, Plastics & Coatings Industry Almanac provides a market research tool for competitive intelligence, strategic planning, business analysis and employment searches. Our coverage includes business trends analysis and industry statistics. The almanac also contains a chemicals, plastics and coatings business glossary and a listing of industry contacts, such as industry associations and government agencies. Next, we profile hundreds of leading companies. Our 400 company profiles include complete business descriptions and up to 27 executives by name and title. This companies database includes petrochemicals firms, major drug makers and specialty chemicals firms, public and private, on a global basis. You'll find a complete overview, industry analysis and market research report in one superb, value-priced package.

The chemicals manufacturing industry is a vibrant, global business that encompasses many important sectors: from commodity chemicals, to specialty chemicals, to custom manufacturing. Key topics include global trade, finance and acquisitions, biochemicals, nanochemicals, polymers, petrochemicals, fertilizers, plastics, coatings, ceramics, solvents, additives, dyes and many other products basic to home and business needs. In addition, the pharmaceuticals industry is included when discussing chemicals. Plunkett's Chemicals, Plastics & Coatings Industry Almanac provides a market research tool for competitive intelligence, strategic planning, business analysis and employment searches. Our coverage includes business trends analysis and industry statistics. The almanac also contains a chemicals, plastics and coatings business glossary and a listing of industry contacts, such as industry associations and government agencies. Next, we profile hundreds of leading companies. Our 400 company profiles include complete business descriptions and up to 27 executives by name and title. This companies database includes petrochemicals firms, major drug makers and specialty chemicals firms, public and private, on a global basis. You'll find a complete overview, industry analysis and market research report in one superb, value-priced package.

Rubber compounding is a very complex endeavour. There are many interactions and many ways to achieve the target properties and economic goals while maintaining an acceptable trade-off for these characteristics. This book is dedicated to providing the reader with various experimental ideas which may guide him or her to developing better compounds and solving technical problems. In a combined effort, 18 renowned industrial experts compiled a large number of diverse experimental suggestions for enhancing a specific compound property. By reviewing the suggestions in this book, the compounder may develop a better ""feel"" for how to best achieve a compromise or trade-off with compound properties when developing new or improving tested rubber recipes.

This standard reference covers the sources, manufacture, specifications, chemistry, physical properties, and current and potential uses of gums. It provides an outline of gums and their uses as well as an understanding of why gums behave in different ways, giving the reader an ability to select the best gum for a particular purpose. Chapters have been constructed to provide balanced information and chapter authors have been selected because of outstanding competence in their specialized areas. Industrial Gums is a useful reference for students and industrial researchers and engineers in chemical, industrial, and applied engineering, biochemistry, food technology, materials chemistry, pharmaceuticals, and biopolymers.

A World History of Rubber helps readers understand and gain new insights into the social and cultural contexts of global production and consumption, from the nineteenth century to today, through the fascinating story of one commodity. * Divides the coverage into themes of race, migration, and labor; gender on plantations and in factories; demand and everyday consumption; World Wars and nationalism; and resistance and independence * Highlights the interrelatedness of our world long before the age of globalization and the global social inequalities that persist today * Discusses key concepts of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including imperialism, industrialization, racism, and inequality, through the lens of rubber * Provides an engaging and accessible narrative for all levels that is filled with archival research, illustrations, and maps

A history of the modern world told through the multiple lives of rubber Capital, as Marx once wrote, comes into the world "dripping from head to foot, from every pore, with blood and dirt." He might well have been describing the long, grim history of rubber. From the early stages of primitive accumulation to the heights of the industrial revolution and beyond, rubber is one of a handful of commodities that has played a crucial role in shaping the modern world, and yet, as John Tully shows in this remarkable book, laboring people around the globe have every reason to regard it as "the devil's milk." All the advancements made possible by rubber--industrial machinery, telegraph technology, medical equipment, countless consumer goods--have occurred against a backdrop of seemingly endless exploitation, conquest, slavery, and war. But Tully is quick to remind us that the vast terrain of rubber production has always been a site of struggle, and that the oppressed who toil closest to "the devil's milk" in all its forms have never accepted their immiseration without a fight. This book, the product of exhaustive scholarship carried out in many countries and several continents, is destined to become a classic. Tully tells the story of humanity's long encounter with rubber in a kaleidoscopic narrative that regards little as outside its range without losing sight of the commodity in question. With the skill of a master historian and the elegance of a novelist, he presents what amounts to a history of the modern world told through the multiple lives of rubber.

Recent developments in the modelling of rubber are collated in this volume, including not only stress-strain behaviour and the use of the large strain finite element method for simulation, but also fatigue, fracture, filler reinforcement, dynamic properties and the effects of ageing.