Vulcanisation is a process which was discovered by Charles Goodyear whish consists
of the natural rubber being cooked with sulphur. This results in disulphide bridges being formed between
the long polyisoprene chains. This makes the rubber stronger and less brittle
removing some of the unwanted characteristics of the latex. Also added to rubber is carbon black, this
not only adds colour but also takes the strain in the rubber giving it a high resistance to fatigue. This means
that now the ruber can be streached repeatedly and suffer little damage,which is why elastic bands can be re-used
and last for a long time. The bonds formed during vulcanisation are very strong and
make the rubber ridgid and unable to streach, to find out how rubber is made elastic
go to Why does it stretch on the links below.
To find out more about rubber please take a look at
any of the listed topics below or any of the links.