Abstract Rubber is usually vulcanized with the aid of the so-called activators, metal oxides, zinc oxide being the one most often used. In vulcanization in the presence of MBT (mercaptobenzothiazole) or DPG (diphenylguanidine) as accelerators it was found that vulcanization activators have almost no effect on the rate of addition of sulfur to rubber, but have a significant influence on the rate and degree of crosslinking of the rubber molecules. Special interest attaches to studies of the action of metal oxides in vulcanization with tetramethylthiuram disulfide (TMTD), as it is known from actual practice that in the absence of zinc oxide this accelerator does not bring about vulcanization. Vulcanization with TMTD was studied on mixtures of natural rubber (extracted with cold acetone in a stream of nitrogen for 50 hours) and of synthetic isoprene rubber (SKI) masticated on microrolls, of the following compositions (in parts by weight).
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