Abstract: It is highly desirable to be able to cure rubbers quickly since the amount of energy required for the curing process is reduced and the number of articles that can be cured in a mold in a given time is increased. In other words, the cycle time needed to cure articles made from such a rubber is reduced and the throughput of a mold utilized in curing such a rubber is increased. Unfortunately, most attempts to accelerate the cure rate of rubber have resulted in the rubber having poor scorch safety. The present invention discloses a fast curing rubber blend having excellent scorch safety which comprises: (a) from 50 to 98 weight percent of at least one polydiene rubber, and (b) from 2 to 50 weight percent of at least one vinylpyridine copolymer comprised of repeat units which are derived from a diene monomer and vinylpyridine wherein from 1 to 75 weight percent of the repeat units in said copolymer are derived from vinylpyridine.

Abstract: It is highly desirable to be able to cure rubbers quickly since the amount of energy required for the curing process is reduced and the number of articles that can be cured in a mold in a given time is increased. In other words, the cycle time needed to cure articles made from such a rubber is reduced and the throughput of a mold utilized in curing such a rubber is increased. Unfortunately, most attempts to accelerate the cure rate of rubber have resulted in the rubber having poor scorch safety. The present invention discloses a fast curing rubber blend having excellent scorch safety which comprises: (a) from 50 to 98 weight percent of at least one polydiene rubber, and (b) from 2 to 50 weight percent of at least one vinylpyridine copolymer comprised of repeat units which are derived from a diene monomer and vinylpyridine wherein from 1 to 75 weight percent of the repeat units in said copolymer are derived from vinylpyridine.

Abstract: The green strength of synthetic elastomers is improved by forming copolymers from at least one type of various synthetic elastomer forming monomers with a hydroxyl containing monomer having the formula: ##STR1## wherein R.sub.1, R.sub.2 and R.sub.3 are either hydrogen or a methyl group and R.sub.4 is an alkyl group having 1-10 carbon atoms and A is a methylene or carbonyl group. The green strength is further improved if a small amount of a hydroxyl ester cross-linking agent is utilized.

Abstract: The green strength of elastomer blends of natural or synthetic cis-1,4-polyisoprene and synthetic elastomers is improved by adding to the chain of the synthetic elastomer an ionogenic compound. The said ionogenic compound can be incorporated into the chain of the synthetic elastomer through conventional polymerization with the monomers forming the synthetic elastomer, and the ionogenic group of the compound will be pendant from the chain or backbone of the elastomer. The ionogenic group is combined with a readily ionogenic metal base or salt. This combination yields blends which have greatly improved green strength as compared to rubber blends known to the art.