DRYING KINETICS AND CROSS-LINKING OF SULFUR PREVULCANIZED THICK NATURAL RUBBER LATEX FILM

Abstract

ABSTRACT In order to investigate drying kinetics of thick natural latex (NR) samples after film formation and the effect on cross-linking of NR latex during the drying process, we employed drying experiment methods, swelling methods, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) methods to study the drying and vulcanizing characteristics of NR latex. The results show that the drying temperature and thickness of film have obviously affected drying characteristics. The drying kinetic equation is achieved by mathematic fitting, and the Henderson and Pabis model MR = a exp(−kt) was the best fitted model for the thick NR latex film. The effect of the drying temperature on the drying constant was assessed employing an Arrhenius type equation, which can be expressed as k = 6746 exp[−39.9 × 103/(RT)] (R = 8.314 J mol−1 K−1). The drying constant exponentially decreased with the increasing film thickness. At the beginning of drying, the cross-link density increases rapidly, and up to the maximum value, it would slightly decrease with the prolonged drying time, which the results of FTIR also agree with.