The Action of Vulcanization Activators
Authors: Dogadkin B. , Beniska I. 
Published: February 2011

1. Zinc oxide and stearic acid do not affect the rate of addition of sulfur to rubber in the vulcanization of pure sodium butadiene rubber in mixtures without accelerators. 2. In mixtures containing diphenylguanidine as accelerator zinc oxide and stearic acid do not affect the rate of addition of sulfur to rubber. 3. In mixtures containing mercaptobenzothiazole zinc oxide retards and stearic acid accelerates the addition of sulfur to rubber. 4. In a similar manner zinc oxide suppresses and stearic acid activates isotope exchange between elementary sulfur and sulfur of the thiol group in mercaptobenzothiazole. 5. Zinc oxide and stearic acid in mixtures with mercaptobenzothiazole increase the rate and degree of crosslinking of the molecular chains of rubber; zinc oxide has the greater influence on the degree, while stearic acid has the greater influence on the rate, of the crosslinking reaction. 6. In mixtures with diphenylguanidine the influence of vulcanization activators on the degree and rate of crosslinking is considerably less pronounced than in mixtures with mercaptobenzothiazole. 7. The kinetics of zinc sulfide formation during vulcanization has been studied and it was established that ZnS is formed as the result of reactions of zinc oxide and zinc compounds with thiol and polysulfide groups in the rubber. Model substances have been used to demonstrate other possible routes for the formation of zinc sulfide during vulcanization. The effect of zinc oxide and stearic acid on the rate and degree of crosslinking is associated with participation of these compounds in such reactions. 8. Isotope exchange between radioactive sulfur in the vulcanizate and elementary sulfur was used to follow the formation and changes in the numbers of polysulfide linkages during the vulcanization process. The amount of sulfur participating in isotope exchange as vulcanization proceeds at first increases, passes through a maximum, and then decreases, which indicates a regrouping of the polysulfide linkages with an increase in their number and a decrease of the average number of sulfur atoms per linkage. Zinc oxide decreases the degree of isotope exchange between the vulcanizate and elementary sulfur at all stages of vulcanization. 9. Vulcanization activators, by favoring a decrease in the number of sulfur atoms in the sulfur bonds, increase the heat stability of the vulcanizates. This effect of the activators was demonstrated by kinetic data on stress relaxation in deformed vulcanizates at 126°. 10. The cleavage and regrouping of polysulfide linkages in the presence of zinc oxide and zinc compounds is accompanied by the combination of part of the sulfur as zinc sulfide, which leads to a decrease in the number of newly formed crosslinks. This effect of zinc oxide is manifested in vulcanization reversion effects and in changes of vulcanizate properties under thermomechanical influences. 11. From the above experimental data the general conclusion may be drawn that the fundamental role of vulcanization activators does not lie in their influence on the kinetics of the addition of sulfur to rubber, but rather in their influence on the nature of the vulcanization structures formed and on changes in them in the course of vulcanization.