A novel chemical route for low-temperature curing of natural rubber using 2,4 dihydroxybenzaldehyde: improved thermal and tensile properties

A novel method for chemically curing natural rubber (NR) using 2,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde (DHB) at low temperatures has been discovered. Adding varying amounts of DHB to NR increases the crosslinking between the NR molecular chains. The chemical reaction between NR molecular chains and DHB was confirmed through Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra. From the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), the thermal stability and activation energy of degradation were determined. The variation in glass transition temperature ( T g ), as an indication of increased crosslink density, reducing the mobility of rubber chains, has been confirmed through differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The addition of DHB to latex significantly enhanced the thermal stability of the rubber. An increase in the activation energy of 5.52% was observed upon the addition of 80 mL DHB into NRL when compared to the uncured one. Furthermore, the tensile properties, in terms of tensile strength and modulus of elasticity of rubber, were drastically increased through DHB crosslinking. Tensile strength values of rubber were found to increase by reducing its elongation at break due to the formation of crosslinks between the macromolecular chains. NR cured with 80 mL DHB exhibited superior tensile and thermal properties among the series of cured samples. By adding 80 mL of DHB, the tensile strength increased by 390% and the elongation at break decreased by 10%. The advantage of this curing method is that, it is an effective technique for crosslinking NR directly from NR latex at comparatively low temperature. Graphical abstract