The Influence of Deproteinisation in the Morphology of Natural Rubber Latex Particles and Subsequent Film Formation

Abstract

In latex products manufacturing, protein has always been a problem due to the prevalence of latex protein allergy. Thus deproteinisation has been introduced to eliminate or reduce rubber latex protein content. However, the investigation on particles size and arrangement of particles in the rubber latex state before and after deproteinisation process has not been thoroughly explored. In this study, the particles size, arrangement and morphology of the film formed from modified latexes were monitored using Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy (ESEM) and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) for various latexes treated with either urea or sodium dodecyl sulphate and combination of both as deproteinisation agent. The size of latex particles changed after deproteinisation and the arrangement of particles when films are formed revealed interesting packing occurrence between the deproteinised latexes. These occurrences were shown to be associated to chemicals or surfactant used in the deproteinisation. The use of urea in combination with sodium dodecyl sulphate in the deproteinisation contributed to good latex particles packing during film formation attributed to the appearance of soft shell latex particles. Clearly, the latex particles and film morphologies is profoundly influenced by the type of deproteinisation agents used.