The influence of microwaves in the mechanism of sulfenamide accelerated vulcanization of natural rubber

The natural rubber vulcanisation mechanism has been studied using microwaves as a heating source. The influence of such heating system on the mechanism reaction has been elucidated. In order to simplify the study of this process, squalene has been used as a Model Compound Vulcanisation (MCV) for natural rubber and N-cyclohexyl-2-benzothiazolesulfenamide (CBS) as an accelerator. The accelerator fading, the cross-linking degree, the reversion process and the effect of the double bond have been studied and the results have been compared with previous results of our group using MCV with conventional heating.