3 takeaways from ACS Rubber Division spring meeting

WARRENSVILLE HEIGHTS, Ohio—As a founding tenet, the 114-year-old ACS Rubber Division asks its members to "never stop learning."

With the quality of programming at this year's Spring Technical Meeting April 25-27, perpetual learning seems to be a constant for the group.

The gathering at Marriott Cleveland East drew about 174 people and 17 businesses with table top displays.

And the quality of the programming was such that one could hear science happening in the nooks and classrooms of the exhibition area—including from Erick Sharp, secretary for the ACS Rubber Division and president and CEO of Ace Laboratories in Ravenna, Ohio.

The 2023 Charles Goodyear Medalist, Chris Macosko, drew rapt attention as he discussed his background and pioneering successes in crosslink polymerization and the development of the first commercial mechanical spectrometer.

Another industry pioneer, Anke Blume, the 2023 Melvin Mooney Distinguished Technology Award winner, was the first female to take the honor named for Melvin Mooney, the inventor of the viscometer.

And the two most popular events—the Science and Technology Awards Banquet and the 25-Year Club Luncheon—continued to be a highlight once again in 2023.

Here are three takeaways from the ACS Rubber Division's Spring Technical Meeting.

A perennial favorite at the ACS Rubber Division's Spring Technical Meeting is the Science and Technology Awards Banquet, which through various categories honors true movers and shakers in the rubber industry.

Highlighting the awards this year was Chris Macosko, who received the ACS Rubber Division's highest honor, the Charles Goodyear Medal.

He was honored for his extensive and groundbreaking work in developing basic relations for crosslinking polymerization—and his work remains a foundation for research today.

The Princeton-educated chemical engineer and professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota co-founded the company Rheometrics, and Macosko is the author of more than 50 publications—including the industry standard textbook, "Rheology: Principles, Measurements and Applications."

Macosko even teased that a second edition of the book is in the works.

Anke Blume, a professor of engineering technology at the University of Twente in the Netherlands, was honored for her work with Degussa A.G., now Evonik, in silica and silanes for rubber applications.

With her family in the audience, the room erupted in applause when she noted that she was the first female to win the Melvin Mooney Distinguished Technology Award.

Erick Sharp, president and CEO of Ace Laboratories, cut his teeth on sponge rubber when he entered the industry years ago.

And producing sponge rubber—which is ever more important in the electric vehicle industry for lightweighting—depends almost entirely on timing and the physical or chemical blowing agent that is selected.

Sponsored by ChemSpec, Sharp's talk on "Development in Chemical and Physical Blowing Agents" covered the virtues and vices of both options, as well as production and curing methods.

"Sponge rubber is all about timing," Sharp said. "You are threading the needle ... simultaneously vulcanizing and creating sponge."

Chemical blowing agents depend on decomposition temperatures, particle size, reaction type and the gas that is formed, as well as polarity activators and inhibitors.

Azodicarbonamide is one of the most popular and effective chemical blowing agents, along with OBSH and DNPT.

Physical blowing agents feature an open reaction, where the gas is released inside the compound, and any filler or acid can accelerate or decrease that release.

But pre-sized microspheres can "be a bear to get done," Sharp said, as they can release glass shards into the dust seals of a Banbury mixer.

Physical blowing agents can form consistent sponge if the gases on the inside of the agent have the same reaction point as the softening of the shell, to gain the expansion required within a sponge.

Another staple at every Rubber Division technical meeting is the 25-Year Club Luncheon.

And Joe Walker, who has more than enough years to qualify for the group, offered this year's luncheon address April 25 during the Spring Technical Meeting.

One of the rubber industry's biggest advocates, Walker called it a career March 30 after more than four decades in the rubber and plastics business, though he will be heavily involved with training through the Association for Rubber Products Manufacturers.

For the past 24 years, Walker worked at Plymouth, Mich.-based Freudenberg-NOK, retiring as director of materials and laboratories.

He also had stints at Honeywell/Alliant Techsystems and Wacker Silicones Corp.

And just as the 25-Year Club Luncheon recognizes industry veterans, Walker, a former Rubber Division chair, has been an ardent supporter of getting a younger generation into the industry.

"The average age in our industry (in the U.S.) is 60 years," he said. "Let that sink in."

Understanding the characteristics of younger workers will help in their management, satisfaction and retention, he said, and this should lead to reduced turnover and a greater return on investment.