Some Aspects on the Crosslink Reaction of Natural Rubber with Dipentamethylene Thiuram Tetrasulfide

Abstract

The mechanism of vulcanization of natural rubber with the sulfurating agent dipentamethylene thiuram was studied. On the transformation from crosslink precursor to crosslink, the route via disproportionation is preferred. In the presence or absence of zinc oxide and stearic acid as activators, the formation of the crosslink precursor follows similar processes, while the main difference is in the reaction induction times. In addition, the desulfuration reaction was favored by the presence of zinc oxide.