NATURAL RUBBER LATEX-LAYERED SILICATE NANOCOMPOSITES WITH EXCELLENT PERMEATION RESISTANCE AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

摘要

Dispersion of layered silicates was made using ultrasonic stirrers and compounded with natural rubber latex.Conventional compounding was done after making the chemical dispersion in a ball mill.An excellent improvement in mechanical properties and transport behavior was obtained for the vulcanized latex films.Accelerated ageing of latex-layered silicate films show considerable improvement in oxidation resistance over unfilled latex films.A higher loading of layered silicates resulted in processing difficulties due to viscosity build up and agglomeration of the silicates.An excellent reduction in air permeation also was observed with just I phr loading of layered silicates.Low loading of layered silicates offers a promising route for making latex films with excellent mechanical behaviour and low permeation.