Rubberlike Properties of Polybutene

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Abstract
Until the last decade the explanation of those properties for which rubber is unique was confined largely to the study of rubber itself. Duplication of these properties involved the synthesis of polymers from isoprene and its immediate homologs. The discovery that chloroprene could be polymerized to a rubberlike substance altered the character of the study and represented a distinct departure in the type of diolefin used. The production of Thiokol, phosphonitrile, and the various vinyl polymers has resulted in the duplication of certain rubberlike physical properties by chemical structures wholly unrelated to rubber. Observation of the behavior of these newer elastics must lead to the conclusion that many physical characteristics of rubber are not inherent in the conformation of the rubber molecule alone. Whitby suggested that any general view of the structure of rubber can be regarded as acceptable only if it is applicable to other elastic colloids. Conversely, those properties of rubber which are not shared by other elastics must be explained by structural features not common to them all. A logical product to consider for the segregation of properties relating to the rubber structure per se and those capable of being shared by other molecules is hydrorubber. This substance has been observed to have certain “rubbery” properties, but unfortunately for comparison it has been prepared only in a degraded or low molecular weight form and therefore (from the standpoint of physical state) is not directly comparable with rubber.

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