Measurement of Refractive Index of Elastomers

Abstract

The measurement of the refractive index of elastomers is discussed, with particular reference to GR-S rubber and the use of an Abbé type of refractometer. Detailed descriptions of the apparatus used and the procedure for GR-S rubber are given. Common sources of error are discussed and methods of minimizing these errors are given. A detailed stady has been made of the precision obtainable with GR-S polymers using the Abbé type of refractometer with an incandescent light source. It was found that the standard deviation corresponding to variability of a single random determination was 0.00007. The method has been used for several years as the basis for the determination of bound styrene in copolymers of butadiene and styrene, and is currently employed for control purposes in the government-owned synthetic rubber plants. It has also been used for determining the percentage of rubber hydrocarbon in natural rubber and for locating second-order transition temperatures.