Comparative study of the elasticity and permeability of vulcanized films made with skim and cream natural rubber latex

The purpose of this study was to gain a clearer picture of the structure and properties of vulcanized films made with skim and cream latex from Hevea brasiliensis. The two properties targeted for this study were the elasticity of the films and their permeability to acetone. Surface characterization by atomic force microscopy revealed that vulcanization substantially modified the structure of the films compared to unvulcanized films. Unlike unvulcanized films, particle identity was retained in the vulcanized films made with cream latex, even after 4 weeks of aging. In addition, skim latex gave vulcanized films with greater elasticity than those obtained with cream latex. On the basis of the structural characterization carried out on the latex and films and information from the literature, the greater elasticity of the skim films arose from more entanglements between polyisoprene chains and associations between proteins. Despite differences in the structure, the acetone permeability was very similar for skim and cream vulcanized films. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008