Rubber is a natural product that has played a vital role in the advancement of human history. Over time people have learned there are many uses for natural rubber. Natural rubber is derived from plants called polymer, a chemical compound composed of many smaller molecules of the same kind. Some polymers exist naturally, while others are produced in laboratories and factories.
In 1839 inventor Charles Goodyear invented the vulcanization of rubber, a process of treating rubber with sulfur and heat, to harden it while keeping its elasticity and preventing it from cracking in the winter and melting in the summer. Once the air-filled rubber tire was invented in 1888 by John Boyd Dunlop, natural rubber became an indispensable material during the Industrial Revolution.
Types of Rubber
Along with natural rubber, there are several types of synthetic rubber that can be used with natural rubber and has its own benefits. Below are three of the most popular synthetic rubbers.
Butyl
Butyl rubber is a synthetic rubber that offers great resistance to heat, aging, tearing, weather and chemicals. Butyl traps air and is excellent for electrical insulation. Uses for Butyl can include O-rings, seals for vacuum applications, sealants, and tank liners.
Silicone
Silicone is another synthetic rubber that works well with steam and water and is used most commonly in the medical industry, as well as the food and beverage industry. Silicone can also be found in sealants and lubricants.
Uses For Natural Ruber
Rubber still has a vital role to play in the 21st century and has multiple uses in our everyday lives. Rubber can be found in gloves, tubes, tires, and balloons. Rubber septa can be found in snap caps, cap liners, and natural rubber seals.
One of the industries that’s most reliant on natural rubber is the medical industry. One reason for its popularity is its low cost and availability. From gloves to injection parts, tubes, caps, stoppers, casters fixed on hospital beds and trolleys, the products made of rubber, which are used in the medical and healthcare industry make a huge impact on the safety and care of this industry.
Integrated Liner Technologies is the world’s leader in manufacturing chromatography seals and septa. Made in the USA, ILT’s products meet and exceed the highest standards in the industry. Our state-of-the-art products are manufactured in house in our upstate New York facility by chemists and engineers who, over the 25 years we have been manufacturing silicone rubber lined caps, have created a full range of sample analysis caps for use with HPLC & GC equipment along with clean environmental cap product and an extensive portfolio of caps for pharmaceutical and clinical diagnostics caps use.
Whether you are looking for cap liners or rubber septa, you can rest assured that you will find what you need with us. To learn more about ILT and our products, click here.
