Duprene Tires

When the du Ponts began to manufacture artificial rubber three years ago, they doubted that its use in tires would be worthwhile before the next U. S. war. In that case the price of natural imported rubber might rise above the $1.15 per Ib. it attained shortly after the last war, thereby making Duprene, trade name for artificial rubber, a profitable commodity at $1 per Ib. Meanwhile only a few manufacturers with special needs could afford Duprene.

The long-sighted du Ponts, however, took no chance that Duprene might not be a perfect substitute for rubber tires. Secretly they supplied batches of Duprene to Dayton Rubber Manufacturing Co., which secretly equipped vehicles with Duprene tires and tubes, sent them out on stiff road tests

Last week du Pont and Dayton Rubber jointly announced that artificial rubber was in all ways suitable for tires. Du Pont added that if they had a tariff wall high enough to keep all natural rubber out of the U. S.. quantity production would enable them to sell Duprene for 35-c- per Ib. Natural rubber last week sold for 15-c- per Ib.

Credit for inventing artificial rubber goes to Professor Julius Arthur Xieuwland of Notre Dame University, botanist and organic chemist. Credit for industrializing the process goes to Dr. Wallace Hume Carothers and associates of E. I. du Pont de Nemours Co. (TIME. Nov. 16, 1931). Acetylene is transformed into a colorless liquid with an ethereal odor called chloroprene. Transformation of chloroprene into rubber is simple, according to Dr. Carleton Ellis, industrial research chemist. who in his huge Chemistry of Petroleum Derivatives* states: "When allowed to stand for about ten days in a closed vessel containing a little air, chloroprene changes into a transparent, resilient non-plastic, elastic mass resembling vul- canized rubber. ... Its tendency to imbibe gasoline or lubricating oil is very slight compared with that of natural rubber." Common source of acetylene for artificial rubber is calcium carbide, which is made by heating coal and limestone. Acetylene can also be made economically, says Chemist Ellis, from petroleum.

*Chemical Catalog Co. ($18).

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