IS " SYNTHETIC RUBBER" RUBBER
M
A N Y people will be surprised to hear that what w e call synthetic rubber is not rubber at all but a new group of chemical compounds, basically differ ent from the latex from trees, and similar only in certain properties, such as elasticity. T o the rubber chemist and manufacturer of rubber products, these chemical formulas are new raw materi als which must be vulcanized, processed and fabricated into useful forms. But since they are basically different from rubber, processing them into such a complex product as a tire, for example, presents a completely new set of chemical problems. For many of the com pounding materials used with latex cannot be used with the synthetics. Here is a situation that calls for chemical ingenuity of the highest order. Developing the new compounds
was only the beginning of the job. Finding the right processing materials to make them effective is as great, if not a greater problem. In this field WishnickTumpeer, Inc. has been particularly successful. Special Witco Carbon Blacks, for instance, are helping to make synthetic tires tougher and more durable. Again, Stearite, a specially developed synthetic stearic acid, has made improvements in compounding possible. And No. 20 Softener, another product of the Witco research laboratory, has helped to solve a specific processing problem. Thus, one by one, difficulties are being solved by energetic, intelligently directed re search. This close cooperation with the rubber industry is part of the service Wishnick-Tumpeer gives to the many industries using chemicals, oils, pigments, asphalts and allied products.
WISHNICK-TUMPEER, INC. MANUFACTURERS AND EXPORTERS VOLUME
20,
NO.
2UNOVEMBER
10,
1942
New York, 295 Madison Avenue · Boston. 141 M i l k Street · C h i c a g o , T r i b u n e T o w e r C l e v e l a n d , 616 St. C l a i r A v e n u e , Ν. Ε. Witco Affiliates: Witco O i l & Gas Company «The Pioneer Asprtalt Company · Panhandle C a r b o n Company · Foreign Office, London, England
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