A study on the graft-copolymerization of 2-acryloyloxyethyl acid phosphate onto natural rubber

Abstract

Nowadays, natural rubber (NR) is one of the most important agricultural product of Thailand, which is an important substance with special characteristics such as mechanical properties, excellent strength, and low heat build-up. However, NR is non-polarity that limited its application in industry. To expand the use of NR, this research is interested to improve the polarity of NR by grafting NR with 2-acryloyloxyethyl acid phosphate (P-1A(N)) monomer. The influences of the monomer concentration, dry rubber concentration (DRC) and reaction time were investigated. The best condition of the graft co-polymerization was 10% DRC, 20 phr of monomer and 3h of reaction time. NR was successfully grafted with P-1A(N) monomer by using this condition. It can be confirmed by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). © (2014) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland.