Abstract
The possibility of prevulcanizing natural rubber latex via ultraviolet (UV) irradiation was investigated using 2-hydroxy-2-methyl-1-phenylpropanone as the photoinitiator and 1,9-bis(acryloyloxy)nonane as the coagent. Effects of the following process variables were assessed on the tensile strength and the cross-link density of thin films prepared from the prevulcanized natural rubber (PVNR) latex: the duration of UV irradiation, the distance between the light source and the latex being irradiated, the mixing time of the latex with the coagent and the phtoinitiator, the depth of the latex pool, and the mass ratio of the photoinitiator to the coagent used. The PVNR films produced under optimal conditions had nearly 4-fold the tensile strength of the film produced without UV irradiation. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy were used to assess the UV reactions, and a mechanism was proposed for UV-induced prevulcanization with the above identified photoinitiat...
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