REINFORCING NATURAL RUBBER WITH BACTERIAL CELLULOSE VIA LATEX SOLUTION PROCESS

Abstract

Natural rubber (NR) is an important material for a variety of the elastomer industry such as tires, automotive interior parts, gloves as well as packaging due to the excellent elastic properties. However, there are some drawbacks such as low tensile strength and low abrasion resistance. Moreover, its applications are also limited because of its poor resistance to oil and solvents. Preparation of NR-composites reinforced with cellulose to enhance Young’s modulus and tensile strength of the NR which is a decreasing solution to these defects and limitations has attracted much interest in recent years. Usually, in the mixing step of rubber-cellulose composite preparation, there are problems of agglomeration and low dispersion of cellulose due to the difference of molecular polarity between cellulose and NR. In this study, in order to enhance the properties of NR-composite films, we focus on NR reinforced with bacterial cellulose (BC) which has many advantages including biocompatibility, remarkable mechanical properties, and high hydrophilicity via one-step latex solution processing. In addition, this study will also explore the modification of NR-BC composites with organic acid to enhance the composite structural stability. The NR-BC composites (NRBC) and the acid modified NR-BC composites (ANRBC) films were characterized for physical, chemical and biological properties. The NRBC composites were successfully prepared via latex solution process. BC fibers dispersed homogeneously within the NR matrix for every concentration with different BC fiber contents. The mechanical properties of the NR-composite films were improved with the BC loading while the structural stability of ANRBC composites was enhanced after the acid modification. However, this improved NR-BC interaction had no significant effect on the biodegradability in soil.