Lesson 2　History of Synthetic Rubber

New Words

Notes

[1] The ready availability of high quality plantation rubber facilitated the advances in production methods and product quality which catalyzed the development of better automobiles and their expanding reliance on rubber products. 高品質種植橡膠的隨時可用，促進了生產方法和產品質量的進步，催化了更好的汽車工業的發展并擴大了其對橡膠產品的依賴。

[2] The governments of Germany and Russia, the military nations most susceptible to loss of natural rubber through naval blockade, instituted programs to develop synthetic alternatives. This was given additional impetus in the mid-1920s by a forced rise in rubber prices due to British restrictions on plantation production. 德國和俄羅斯這兩個最容易因海軍封鎖而喪失天然橡膠的軍事國家制定了開發(天然橡膠)合成替代品的計劃。在20世紀20年代中期，由于英國對種植園生產的限制，橡膠價格受到強制上漲，給予(合成橡膠的生產)額外的推動力。

[3] Copolymerization of 1，3-butadiene with other monomers was pursued to obtain more easily processed and rubber-like products. In Germany this led within a few years to Buna S, a copolymer of butadiene and styrene, and Buna N, a copolymer of butadiene and acrylonitrile. 將1，3-丁二烯與其他單體共聚，以獲得更容易加工的、更類似于橡膠的產品。在德國，丁二烯與苯乙烯的共聚物丁腈橡膠S、丁二烯與丙烯腈的共聚物丁腈橡膠N在幾年之內得到了開發。

[4] By the time war broke out in 1939, both Germany and Russia could satisfy their rubber needs with reasonably satisfactory synthetic products. 到1939年戰爭爆發時，德國和俄羅斯都可以用相當令人滿意的合成橡膠產品來滿足他們的橡膠需求。

[5] By the end of the Second World War, compounding art and science had fully bridged the gap between elastomer and rubber product. 到第二次世界大戰結束時，配合藝術和科學已經完全彌合了彈性體和橡膠產品之間的差距。

Exercises

1. Translate the following paragraph into Chinese.

Synthetic elastomers were first produced in Germany in the early 1930s with a world consumption of 2500 long tons. After World War Ⅱ in 1946, the world consumption of synthetic rubber had grown to 912400 long tons in comparison to 555000 long tons of natural rubber.

2. Put the following words and phrases into English.

合成的　　合成橡膠　　結構單元　　單體　　聚合

共聚物　　拉伸強度　　炭黑　　　　配合　　耐油橡膠

Rubber Appreciation

Rubber is a fascinating, marvelous material with a unique combination of properties. The compounder originates recipe to optimize one, several, or all of the rubber’s inherent capabilities to provide a compound that will be molded or formed into the desired useful marketable produce.

A rubber band is an example that utilizes the stretch nature of rubber. A tire tread needs to be primarily flexible and abrasive resistant. A special inner-liner of the tire has amazing resistance to air permeation while rubber boots need to be waterproof. These are only a few examples of the usefulness of rubber; the list is almost endless.

The compounder has to know what materials are available for his purpose. And regardless of how many years of experience he/she can rely on, there is never any end to the accumulation of new knowledge. Moreover, attention has already given to the recipe ingredients to achieve ease and safety of processing behavior of the compound during mixing, extrusion and calendaring in the factory prior to the forming, molding and curing of the product. Pemature scorch, set-up or curing during processing, must be avoided.

The historical account of compounding will provide a basis for what is to follow in the text and hopefully cultivate a sense of appreciation among the readers for the art and science of putting together recipe for product performance.

Words and Expressions