Recently, Prof Jichuan Zhang has published a paper titled “Preparation and properties of NR/EUG composite film” on Industrial Crops and Products (Ind. Crop. Prod., 2022, 18, 115423).
Natural rubber latex (NRL) products have the following problems: poor dimensional stability caused by low modulus and difficulty in wearing caused by high surface adhesion. In order to solve the above problems, the present paper developed eucommia ulmodies latex (EUL), and successfully prepared natural rubber (NR)/ Eucommia ulmoides gum (EUG) composite film by blending EUL into NRL. The results showed that the appearance of EUL was milky white, which was similar to natural latex. The latex particles were regular spherical, and the particle sizes were in the range of 100 nm~2000 nm. Like the solid EUG, the EUG in latex particles kept crystalline state as well, which were α-form and β-form respectively. As the content of EUG increased from 0 % to 40 %, the crystallinity of the NR/EUG composite film gradually increased, which increased the highest modulus by 207 % and enhanced the dimensional stability of the film. At the same time, the crystallinity of EUG could effectively reduce the adhesion on the surface of the film, so it could improve the fitness of gloves and other latex products to human organs and facilitate wearing and taking off. At last, adding an appropriate amount of EUL could enhance the tear performance of the composite film. When the content of EUG was 20 %, the tear strength of the film increased by 19 %, which improved the cutting resistance of the latex product. So, the NR/EUG composite film could be used to develop high-modulus, low adhesive force of surface, high tear performance and super thin latex product.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2022.115423
