RUBBER COMPOSITION CONTAINING METAL SALTS OF ORGANIC ACIDS, METHOD OF CURING, CURED COMPOSITIONS, AND ARTICLE
A composition comprising natural or synthetic rubber, sulfur as vulcanizing agent, and an activation system comprising at least one metal salt of a C 1 -C 7 saturated acid. A method of curing the compositions, the resultant cured compositions, and articles comprising the cured compositions are also disclosed.
1 . A composition comprising natural or synthetic rubber, elemental sulfur or a sulfur donor, and an activation system comprising at least one metal salt of a C 1 -C 7 saturated acid.
2 . The composition of claim 1 wherein the metal is zinc.
3 . The composition of claim 1 wherein the saturated acid contains 3-6 carbon atoms.
4 . The composition of claim 1 wherein the saturated acid contains 4 carbon atoms.
5 . The composition of claim 1 wherein the metal is zinc and the saturated acid is isobutyric acid.
6 . The composition of claim 1 where the metal salt is present in the range of 0.5-40 parts per hundred parts rubber.
7 . The composition according to claim 1 where sulfur is present in the range of 1.0-4.0 parts per hundred parts rubber.
8 . A method comprising curing a composition according to claim 1 by heating.
9 . A cured composition prepared by the method of claim 8 .
10 . An article comprising the cured composition of claim 9 .
11 . The article of claim 10 in the form a tire component, engineered rubber product, belt, hose, rubber gasket, ring, engine mount, vibration isolation mount, or rubber roller.
12 . The article of claim 10 in the form of an engineered rubber product.
13 . The article of claim 10 adapted for use in an automotive or industrial application.