Preparation, characterization and application of gamma irradiated some water soluble polymers/natural rubber latex blends

Abstract

AbstractThis work mainly depends on the assumption or hypothesis which exploits the tendency of natural rubber latex (NRL) to cross‐link under irradiation in the presence of Alginate and CMC biopolymer and form (ALG/NRL and CMC/NRL) films containing polar/charged functional groups which offer them hydrophilicity, and consequently water absorption capacity. CMC/NRL and ALG/NRL (v/v) blend films prepared first by latex compounding followed by casting technique. The prepared ALG/NRL and CMC/NRL blend films characterized then, by various techniques such as IR, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Equilibrium swelling properties and gel percent GF% of prepared films also studied in details. GF% studies revealed that the GF% increased with increasing both NRL content and irradiation dose for both ALG/NRL and CMC/NRL. Thermal analysis shows the increased thermal stability of the irradiated samples due cross‐linking effect of NRL. The improved gel content percentage obtained paved the way for the application of various films in the removal of toxic dyes such as acidic, direct, and basic dyes from waste water where in this study, the films exhibited high affinity toward basic blue dye.