ABSTRACT
Rubber compound is a complex mixture of different chemical ingredients. Each ingredient has its own function. The ingredients play different roles during compound mixing, processing, and final use of the rubber product. The majority of ingredients used in rubber products are petroleum based. Some of these chemicals change their composition during one of the processing stages, called vulcanization. These chemical changes cause real challenges to a rubber chemist during identification of different chemical ingredients from a finished rubber product. The process of identification of chemical ingredients from the finished product is known as reverse engineering.
