Natural rubber has been collected in the form of latex for a very long time and rubber balls have been found from as far back as 1600 BC! It was also used to make rubber shoes, strips to hold stone and metal tools, water-resistant cloth and more. In the 1890s, more people began to use cars and car tyres, which created increased demand for rubber. The first form of synthetic rubber was created in 1879. Large-scale commercial production of synthetic rubber first started in Germany during World War I. Investigations into synthetic rubber continued after the War and this led, in 1933, to the invention by German scientists of a type of synthetic rubber, Buna-S. Buna-S is made up of styrene and butadiene, and mainly used to make tyres for cars.
At the same time, in the USA, investigations focused on different materials. Neoprene was invented in 1931 by DuPont scientists after they attended a lecture by a Belgian-born priest and professor of chemistry, Dr Julius Nieuwland.
Neoprene was considered superior to rubber in many ways. It is resistant to sunlight, abrasion and extreme temperatures. One of the most popular uses of neoprene is wetsuits. In wetsuits, neoprene traps water between the wetsuit and the wearer's skin. Body heat warms the water against the skin, which works to reduce heat loss from the body, so that divers and surfers can swim comfortably in cold water.
The insulating and protective properties of neoprene have made it a popular material in products as diverse as scuba-diving gear to protective gloves, protective covers for items such as mobile phones but also in corrosion-resistant coatings and adhesives.
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