Safe production of rubber

THE European SafeRubber project has reached the halfway point of its three-year research. Since June 2010, the European Community-funded SafeRubber project has been working on a suitable and safer alternative to
ETU. Thiourea-based accelerators, of which ETU is the most common, have been used for more than 80 years in the vulcanisation of polychloroprene rubber as they facilitate the rubber curing system by speeding up the creation of molecular crosslinks, decreasing process duration and increasing physical properties.

However, ETU is classified toxic to reproduction and thereby a CMR within Europe. Under the REACH regulations,in due time, its use could either be prohibited or drastically limited. The initial work is focused on research into the chemical mechanism of the vulcanisation of polychloroprene using ETU, a mechanism which
has never been fully understood or proven. This enabled the consortium to design and synthesise several alternative molecules, which it hopes will be safer than ETU. These molecules are now being optimised in polychloroprene compounds before being scaled up to an industrial process. Project results to date are available at: www.saferubber.eu. (PRA)