November 17, 2025
The most fundamental distinction between rubber and plastics lies in their deformation behavior: plastics primarily undergo plastic (permanent) deformation, whereas rubber is characterized by elastic (reversible) deformation. This means that after a force is removed, a plastic component will largely retain its deformed shape, while a rubber part will elastically return to its original state. This is reflected in their extensibility; the elasticity of plastic is typically less than 100%, whereas rubber can exhibit elongations of 1000% or more. Another key difference is in their processing; most plastics are finished after molding, while rubber requires a vulcanization process to form cross-links and achieve its final elastic properties.
Rubber is specifically defined as a class of high molecular weight polymers renowned for their remarkable elasticity. This category includes natural rubber, derived from the latex of plants, and synthetic rubber, which is manufactured from monomers like butadiene and isoprene obtained from petroleum and natural gas. Styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) is the most widely used type of synthetic rubber. Furthermore, specialty rubbers can be created, such as conductive rubber, which is produced by filling a rubber compound with silver-plated particles and then molding and vulcanizing it to achieve specific properties like electrical conductivity and electromagnetic shielding.
