Title: vulcanization
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - vulcanization
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.VT07153
Status: current

Definition
Chemical crosslinking of high-molar-mass linear or branched polymers to give a polymer network.

Notes
1) The polymer network formed often displays rubber-like elasticity. However, a high concentration of crosslinks can lead to rigid materials.
2) A classic example of vulcanization is the crosslinking of cis-polyisoprene through sulfide bridges in the thermal treatment of natural rubber with sulfur or a sulfur-containing compound.

Related Terms
- crosslinking: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/CT07136
- polymer network: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/P04742

Source
- PAC, 2007, 79, 1801. 'Definitions of terms relating to the structure and processing of sols, gels, networks, and inorganic-organic hybrid materials (IUPAC Recommendations 2007)' on page 1826 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac200779101801)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/VT07153/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/VT07153/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/VT07153/xml

Citation: Citation: 'vulcanization' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.VT07153
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Accessed: 2026-06-20T07:48:24+00:00