130 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[December 1, 1914. 



in strength to that vulcanized in the ordinary way, and it is as- 

 sumed that the shorter heating diminishes the amount of de- 

 polymerization, while effecting a more complete combination be- 

 tween the rubber and the sulphur. It is claimed that 100 parts 

 Para and 10 parts of sulphur may be fully vulcanized by 

 heating for 25 minutes at 40 pounds in the presence of one-half 

 em., "i "accelerene," while with 40 parts of sulphur a hard 

 vulcanite is obtained by curing for two hours at 45 pounds. Its 

 use is said also entirely to prevent "blooming" or "sulphuring." 

 Attention has recently been called in these pages to the use 

 of vanadium oxide and tttngstic acid as accelerators. 



A POSSIBLE NEW RUBBER CEMENT. 



VULCANIZATION OF RUBBER SOLUTIONS BY THE ULTRA- 

 VIOLET RAYS. 

 ]\/I HEILBRONNER read a paper before the International 

 iV1, Rubber Conference entitled: "The Study of Rubber So- 

 lutions Vulcanized by the Ultra-Violet Rays." This is probably 

 ntinuation of the works of Heilbronner and Bernstein, pub- 

 1 in the Compt. Rend. May 11. Volume 138. 1914, page 

 1343, and abstracted in the Chem. Zentr., Volume 5, 18, 1914, 

 No 4, 6, and Roll. Zed, Volume 12, 1913, page 4. where 



they had shown that rubber combines with sulphur in a solu- 

 tion under the influence of ultra-violet rays presenting a re- 

 markably staple gel. By evaporating the solvent a pellicle of 

 vulcanized rubber was produced which was insoluble in solvents 

 from which it had been evaporated. They also there stated that 

 the ultra-microscopic method shows great quantities of small 

 particle-., but there must be many more such particles which are 

 ible. Dr. Heilbronner in his address said that Victor Henri 

 in 1909-1910 was the first to expose rubber to the ultra-violet rays. 

 carrying out vulcanization with films of solutions of rubber. At- 

 tention might be called to French patent No. 460.780. issued July 

 26, 1913. but which under the international conventions has the 

 of July 26, 1912, in which the vulcanization of rubber solu- 

 tions by ultra-violet rays is claimed, and it is stated that 3 per 

 cent plantation rubber and sulphur in benzine exposed in thin 

 layers vulcanize rapidly, sulphur to the extent of from l ! / 2 to 

 2\A per cent combining with the rubber. 



Elaborate diagrams were presented by M. Heilbronner regard- 

 ing the results obtained by various experiments. It appears that 

 it is not desirable to use either flowers of sulphur or stick sul- 

 phur, both being to a great extent insoluble, but crystals of sul- 

 phur should be used. The most interesting thing is the sugges- 

 tion that these solutions of rubber so vulcanized may have in- 

 dustrial application. They are said to be suitable for all kinds 

 of cementing or rubberizing operations, and are capable of re- 

 sisting all mechanical strains, as well as the action of heat. 

 I hey can be used particularly for joining and rubberizing leather, 

 and consequently will be valuable in the shoe industry. 



Lastly, the repairs of all rubber goods, tires, inner tubes, etc., 

 can be readily carried out by means of vulcanized solutions. 



While a few years ago it would have been considered fantastic 

 to suggest the practical use of rubber vulcanized by ultra-violet 

 rays, recent progress has been such that by the use of a Peter 

 1 oopei I lewett mercury light produced in a quartz tube, the 

 ultra-violet rays pass through with such ease that they have 

 been suggested for many purposes, such as sterilization of water, 

 and it is possible that these solutions of vulcanized rubber may 

 considerable technical importance. 

 By using vulcanized solutions of an altogether different con- 

 centration i ! .. to 1 per cent) a positive absorption of the solu- 

 tion ted, and the two pieces are no longer separated by 

 a layer of rubber; they are in immediate contact and penetrate 

 one into the other. By using these vulcani ed solutions one ob- 

 tains not an ordinary joint, but a true autogenous rubber weld- 

 ing. 



Dr. M. (',. Bernstein also read a paper entitled "The Vulcan- 

 ization of Rubber by Ultra-Violet Rays." He found that a 

 rubber solution mixed with sulphur and exposed to the acticn 

 i f the ultra-violet rays thickens considerably, and is transformed 

 into a gelatinous mass; furthermore, vulcanization takes pla:e 

 and sulphur enters into the combination. 



British Patent Xo. 17,195 of 1914 has been issued to G. Bern- 

 stein, and is for a proci ss of vulcanizing a rubber solution con- 

 taining 6 per cent of rubber, with 10 per cent of the rubber 

 weight of sulphur dissolved in benzene by spreading, for ex- 

 ample, on a moving bell a laser of about ' _. m. in. thickness, and 

 ing it to the ultra-violet rays from a quartz tube for 45 

 mds. 



This would appear to be rather a difficult thing to do, for 

 under the heat of the rays the solvent would evaporate from 

 this thin film. It appears that if this solutii n of rubber, vul- 

 canized in this way, is once dried that it cannot be brought into 

 solution again, and accordingly cannot be used as a cement. 



RECENT CHEMICAL PATENTS. 



Patent for process for treating rubber, issued to Staunton 

 , Muskegon, Mich. U. S. Patent No. 1,115,031. This seems 

 to lie a process for producing rubber sponge or foam. The com- 

 pound is mixed with a light hydrocarbon solvent and brought 

 to a stiff solution. Then it is submitted to a vacuum to make 

 it spongy, when the vulcanizing agent is admitted. (Evidently 

 cold vulcanization is intended.) The vulcanizing agent is then 

 neutralized. The essential idea is to produce a sponge by the 

 vaporizing of the solvent under the vacuum, then to vulcanize 

 cold in this state. It does not appear how the vulcanizing agent 

 is to saturate the compound u ithout destroying the vacuum, in 

 which case the solvent would condense and destroy the sponge 

 effect before the vulcanizing liquid reached it. 



U. S. Patent No. 1,112,853 is for producing zinc oxide, as- 

 signed to the New Jersey Zinc Co. 



THE CREOSOTE CURE FOR LATEX. 



British Patent No. 13.438, of 1913, has been issued to Cleland 

 Davidson, for a process of coagulating latex. In this patent 

 phenol, cresylic acid or the higher tar acids are neutralized with 

 caustic soda, and to this aqueous solution is added liver of sul- 

 phur or any other polysulphide or sulphide of potash, or soda 

 and formaldehyde solution may then be added. A small propor- 

 tion of this solution is added to the latex. The essential thing 

 is the creosote and alkali. The other materials may be omitted. 

 After this alkali treatment an acid is used for coagulation. The 

 object of the treatment seems to be to cause the caoutchouc in 

 the course of the coagulation to become homogeneously and in- 

 timately impregnated by, or incorporated with, a preservative 

 substance. Perhaps this creosote treatment might have the same 

 influence, to some extent, as the creosoting accomplished in 

 smoking Para by the Brazilian methods. 



U. S. patent No. 1.098,858, granted June 2, 1914, to Franz 

 Webel, who assigns to the Badische Co., claims the production 

 of chlorine derivatives by reacting with chlorine on trymethyl 

 ethylene in a vacuum. This is part of the operation of produc- 

 ing rubber from petroleum oils, which method has the great ad- 

 vantage of having a plentiful and cheap supply of raw materials. 



EXPERIMENTS IN RUBBER DYEING. 



Dr. Rudolph Ditmar, in "Gummi Zeitung," October 23, 

 1914. p. 85, has a very elaborated article describing a large 

 number of dyes suitable for rubber dyeing and giving the 

 results of many experiments in their use. Attention was 

 called in the November issue of The India Rubber World 

 to the United States patents Xos. 1,113,614 and 1,113.759. on 

 this system of dyeing, with comments on each. 



