Relation between Molecular Weights and Physical Properties of Rubber Fractions

Abstract
As high elasticity is a property possessed only by substances of high molecular weight, it is of interest to enquire into the relation between the elastic properties of a highly elastic material such as rubber and its molecular weight. An investigation on these lines has been made possible through the work of Bloomfield and Farmer, who have succeeded in separating natural rubber into fractions having different average molecular weights. The more important physical properties of these fractions have been examined with the object of determining which of the properties are dependent on molecular weight and which are not. Fairly extensive observations were made on the fractions from latex rubber referred to as Nos. 2, 3 and 4 by Bloomfield and Farmer, and some less extensive observations were carried out on the less oxygenated portion of fraction No. 1 obtained from crepe rubber (called hereafter 1b) . Before considering these experimental results, and their relation to the molecular weights of the fractions, it will be necessary to refer briefly to the methods used for the molecular-weight determinations, and to discuss the significance of the figures obtained.

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