- Raw rubber is an important natural product sourced from the sap of rubber trees

- It is an addition polymer used in rubber balls, shoes and car tyres for its viscoelastic
properties.
- In the early 20th century the demand for rubber outstripped supply. Rapid advancements in
the automobile industry required substantial amounts of rubber for the production of tyres,
especially for tanks and military vehicles during the World Wars.
- The supply of raw rubber, although renewable, was quickly exhausted as plantations were
limited and inconsistent in production capacity
- chemists developed synthetic alternatives to raw rubber to cope with dwindling supplies. In
the 1940-1950s styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) was produced in laboratories from the
copolymerisation of the styrene and 1,3-butadiene monomers.
- Compared to raw rubber SBR is more physically and chemically resistant and can
incorporate various additives to further enhance its properties, such as black colouring and
abrasion resistance.
- the synthetic production remains non-renewable. Fossil fuels are required for the
production of short chain hydrocarbons (catalytic cracking) in order to produce styrene and
butadiene (substitution of the appropriate functional groups).