DEVELOPMENT OF THE NON AMMONIA PRESERVATIVE SYSTEM FORNATURAL RUBBER LATEX

摘要

Normally natural rubber (NR) latex has to be appropriately preserved in order to avoid prematured coagulation and putrefaction due mainly to the action of contaminated bacteria. The most widely used preservative system so far is the ammonia-based system (high ammonia or low ammonia with TMTD/ZnO). Although these preservative systems are very effective, they present some problems of toxicity and can be a cause of variability in properties of NR latex. A novel preservative system, based on natural products, has been developed to replace the ammonia-based system. Preliminary results showed that the new preservative system is highly effective in preserving and stabilising NR latex. The sulfur vulcanisation and film-formation behaviors of the latex preserved with the new preservative system are quite similar to those of the ammonia-based system. Field trial of the newly-developed preservative system is in progress.