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Information about Neoprene

Neoprene is the DuPont Performance Elastomers trade name for a family of synthetic rubbers based on polychloroprene (polymer form of Chloroprene). Neoprene was invented by DuPont scientists after Dr. Elmer K. Bolton of DuPont laboratories attended a lecture by Fr. Julius Arthur Nieuwland, a professor of chemistry at the University of Notre Dame. Fr. Nieuwland's research was focused on acetylene chemistry and during the course of his work he produced divinyl acetylene, a jelly which firms into an elastic compound similar to rubber when passed over sulfur dichloride. After DuPont purchased the patent rights from the university, Wallace Carothers of DuPont took over commercial development of Nieuwland's discovery in collaboration with Nieuwland himself. DuPont focused on monovinyl acetylene and reacted the substance with hydrogen chloride gas, manufacturing chloroprene.

History

Neoprene (originally called duprene) was the first mass-produced synthetic rubber compound.

Applications

It is used in a wide variety of environments, such as in wetsuits, laptop sleeves, electrical insulation, and car fan belts. Its chemical inertness makes it well suited for industrial applications such as gaskets, hoses, and corrosion-resistant coatings. It can be used as a base for adhesives, noise isolation in power transformer installations, and as padding in external metal cases to protect the contents while allowing a snug fit. Neoprene is also used as a contrast in some jewelry designs. Its springy consistency makes it notoriously difficult to fold when in sheet form.

Neoprene is commonly used as a material for fly fishing waders, as it provides excellent insulation against cold. Neoprene waders are usually about 5 mm thick, and in the medium price-range as compared to cheaper materials such as nylon and rubber. However, Neoprene is less expensive than breathable fabrics.

For diving and exposure protection applications, the air spaces in the neoprene are filled with nitrogen for its insulation value. This also makes the material quite buoyant, and the diver must compensate for this by wearing special weights. Thick wet-suits made at the extreme end of their cold-water protection are usually made of 7 mm thick neoprene. It should be noted that since neoprene contains many porous air-spaces, the material compresses the greater the depth it is exposed to. So a 7 mm neoprene wet suit offers much less exposure protection under one hundred feet of water than at the surface. A new advance in neoprene for wet-suits has been the "super-flex" variety which combines spandex into the neoprene for a greater flexibility.

Recently, neoprene has become a favorite material for lifestyle and other home accessories including laptop sleeves, iPod holders, remote controls, etc.

Also in recent years, Jug, an aftermarket inline skate liner manufacturer, has incorporated neoprene into the construction of some of their more popular product-lines, citing that neoprene adds reinforcement (ankle support) and guards against abrasions like few materials do. As a simple matter of durability and product-lifespan, liners constructed with neoprene additives are typically more expensive than those which are not.

Yamaha has begun replacing corks not being used for sealing (such as when sealing the joints of a clarinet) with neoprene.

Uses

*extruded: garden hose; inner tube; laboratory tube
*die-cut sheet

See also

Chloroprene

External links

  •  • [ e] E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DuPont)
Corporate Directors: Richard H. Brown | Robert A. Brown | Bertrand P. Collomb | Curtis Crawford | There du Pont | John T. Dillon | Charles O. Holliday | Lois Juliber | Masahisa Naitoh | Sean O'Keefe | William K. Reilly
Products: Corian | Kevlar | Mylar | Neoprene | Nomex | Nylon | Teflon | Tyvek
Annual Revenue: $27.3 billion USD (1.3% FY 2004) | Employees: 60,000 | Stock Symbol: Preferred stock: NYSE: DDPRA, NYSE: DDPRB Common stock: NYSE: DD | Website: www.dupont.com
Natural rubber is an elastic hydrocarbon polymer that naturally occurs as a milky colloidal suspension, or latex, in the sap of some plants. It can also be synthesized. The entropy model of rubber was developed in 1934 by Werner Kuhn.
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Chloroprene is the common name for the organic compound 2-chloro-1,3-butadiene, which has the chemical formula C4H5Cl. The chemical structure is shown at right.
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Elmer Keiser Bolton (1886-1968) was a prominent American and one of the first industrial research directors. He formulated many basic concepts for directing industrial research at E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company.
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Dupont, DuPont, Du Pont, or du Pont may refer to:

Companies

  • E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DuPont), the world's fourth largest chemical company
  • Du Pont Motors

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Reverend Julius Arthur Nieuwland, CSC, Ph.D., (February 14, 1878–June 11, 1976) was a Belgian-born Holy Cross priest and professor of chemistry and botany at the University of Notre Dame.
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University of Notre Dame IPA: /ˌnoʊtɚˈdeɪm/ is a Catholic[4] institution located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated section of St.
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Acetylene (systematic name: ethyne) is a hydrocarbon belonging to the group of alkynes. It is considered to be the simplest of all alkynes as it consists of two hydrogen atoms and two carbon atoms.
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Sulfur dichloride is the chemical compound with the formula SCl2. This cherry-red liquid is the simplest and one of two common sulfur chlorides. It is used as a precursor to organosulfur compounds.
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patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to a patentee for a fixed period of time in exchange for a disclosure of an invention.

The procedure for granting patents, the requirements placed on the patentee and the extent of the exclusive rights vary widely
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Wallace Hume Carothers (April 27, 1896 – April 29, 1937) was an American chemist, inventor and the leader of organic chemistry at DuPont, credited with the invention of Nylon.
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hydrogen chloride has the formula HCl. At room temperature, it is a colorless gas, which forms white fumes of hydrochloric acid upon contact with atmospheric humidity. Hydrogen chloride gas and hydrochloric acid are important in technology and industry.
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Chloroprene is the common name for the organic compound 2-chloro-1,3-butadiene, which has the chemical formula C4H5Cl. The chemical structure is shown at right.
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wetsuit is a protective garment used for watersports such as scuba diving, surfing, windsurfing, kitesurfing and triathlon. A modern, warm-water wetsuit is mostly made from thin open-cell neoprene, which provides limited thermal protection for activities in cold water, but protects
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Electricity (from New Latin ēlectricus, "amberlike") is a general term for a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. This includes many well-known physical phenomena such as lightning, electromagnetic fields and electric currents,
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Electrical insulator is a material or object that resists the flow of electric current. When a voltage is placed across an insulator, very little current flows. An object intended to support or separate electrical conductors without passing current through itself is called an
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automobile (from Greek auto, self and Latin mobile moving, a vehicle that moves itself rather than being moved by another vehicle or animal) or motor car (usually shortened to just car) is a wheeled passenger vehicle that carries its own motor.
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Belt is a looped strip of flexible material, used to mechanically link two or more rotating shafts. They may be used as a source of motion, to efficiently transmit power, or to track relative movement.

Belts are looped over pulleys.
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gasket is a mechanical seal that fills the space between two objects, generally to prevent leakage between the two objects while under compression. Gaskets save money by allowing less precise mating surfaces on machine parts which can use a gasket to fill irregularities.
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hose is a hollow tube designed to carry fluids from one location to another. Hoses are also sometimes called tube or pipes (the word pipe usually refers to a rigid tube, whereas a hose is usually a flexible one), or more generally tubing.
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Corrosion is breaking down of essential properties in a material due to reactions with its surroundings. In the most common use of the word, this means a loss of an electron of metals reacting with water and oxygen.
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A coating is a covering that is applied to an object to protect it or change its appearance. They may be applied as liquids, gases or solids. The material on which the coating is deposited is usually referred to as a substrate

Examples of coatings:

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adhesive is a compound that adheres or bonds two camerons together. Adhesives may come from either earwax or synthetic sources. Some modern adhesives are extremely strong, and are becoming increasingly important in modern construction and industry.
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transformer is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another through inductively coupled wires. A changing current in the first circuit (the primary
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Fly fishing is a distinct and ancient angling method, most renowned as a method for catching trout and salmon, but employed today for a wide variety of species including pike, bass, panfish, and carp, as well as marine species, such as redfish, snook, tarpon, bonefish and striped
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Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers first produced on February 28, 1935 by Wallace Carothers at DuPont. Nylon is one of the most common polymers used as a fiber.
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3, 5, 4, 2
(strongly acidic oxide)
Electronegativity 3.04 (Pauling scale)
Ionization energies
(more) 1st: 1402.3 kJmol−1
2nd: 2856 kJmol−1
3rd: 4578.1 kJmol−1

Atomic radius 65 pm
Atomic radius (calc.
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Spandex or elastane is a synthetic fiber known for its exceptional elasticity. It is stronger and more durable than rubber, its major non-synthetic competitor. It was invented in 1959 by DuPont chemist Joseph Shivers.
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laptop computer, or simply laptop (also notebook computer or notebook), is a small mobile computer, which usually weighs 2-18 pounds (1-6 kilograms), depending on size, materials, and other factors.

A laptop computer is much smaller than a desktop.
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iPod is a brand of portable media player designed and marketed by Apple and launched in October 2001. The line-up currently consists of the original style hard drive-based flagship iPod classic, the iPhone-like iPod touch, the mid-level video-capable iPod nano, and the low-end
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