What is Neoprene fabric?

Neoprene is also called polychloroprene is a name given to the family of synthetic rubbers. Neoprene is known as one of the first-ever synthetic fibers which was manufactured by an American company DuPont in 1930. During the 1920s natural rubber was in very high demand and had a very high price. This demand for natural rubber led the chemists of DuPont to invent a comparable synthetic rubber which was made from chloroprene.

This substitute of rubber is manufactured by the free-radical emulsion polymerization of chloroprene. During the polymerization process, all the molecules are bound by chloroprene which results in polychloroprene chips. Many foaming agents and carbon pigments are mixed with these melted polychloroprene chips which expand after the baking process. This resulted in the formation of neoprene sheets that are available in two forms i.e. solid form and latex form.

Neoprene was originally invented with the intention to serve as a substitute to oil-resistant natural rubber but because of its other properties, it was used as an alternative to natural rubber. When compared to natural rubber, Neoprene is known to have more properties and is used in a wide number of applications such as laptop sleeves, electrical insulations, tires, etc.