Does rubber conduct electricity?

Rubber generally does not conduct electricity. Unfilled elastomers such as natural rubber (NR), silicone rubber (VMQ), or ethylene propylene diene rubber (EPDM) are electrical insulators with a specific conductivity of approximately 10¹⁴ to 10¹⁶ Ω·cm. Rubber only becomes conductive through added fillers such as conductive carbon black, graphite, or metal particles, so conductive and dissipative rubber mixtures are possible depending on the application. The material-specific conductivity measures the conductivity of the material regardless of the shape and size of the component and uses the unit Ω·cm for this.

The resistance of a finished rubber component, and whether it is antistatic, is determined by the component resistance (measured in Ω), which depends additionally on length and cross-section (R = ρ · length / cross-section).