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Effect of natural coagula maturation on the processability, cure, and mechanical properties of unfilled vulcanizates of Hevea natural rubber
Author(s) -
Fri Pamela Soh,
Nkeng George E.,
Ehabe Eugene E.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.25175
Subject(s) - hevea , hevea brasiliensis , natural rubber , vulcanization , compounding , materials science , raw material , composite material , polymer science , chemistry , organic chemistry
Fresh latex from different Hevea brasiliensis clones was naturally coagulated, subjected to different durations of maturation, processed into solid rubber, and compounded into pure gum stocks and vulcanized. Coagula maturation had clone‐specific effects on the processability of the raw rubber: reduced for some clones, while others was less sensitive. The cure and mechanical behaviors of the compounded stocks and vulcanizates, respectively, were not sensitive to the clonal origin of coagula and their duration of maturation. Although coagula maturation could be associated with leaching, deactivation of inherent antioxidants in Hevea latex, as well as crosslinking and/or oxidation of polyisoprene chains, these results show that compounding with a standard pure gum recipe compensates for the Hevea latex constituents affected by maturation. Hence, extended maturation of Hevea coagula, for economic or other reasons, would influence much more the bulk behavior of raw rubber and have insignificant effects on the compounded stocks and vulcanizates. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 103: 2359–2363, 2007