An Investigation into the Compatibility and Properties of Natural Rubber/Poly(methylmethacrylate-co-laurylmethacrylate) Latex Blends

Poly(methyl methacrylate-co-lauryl methacrylate) (pmlma) latices with various mass ratios of methyl methacrylate (mma) to lauryl methacrylate (lma) (i.e.,9:1,8:2,7:3,6:4,5:5) were initially synthesised through emulsion polymerisation and then blended with natural rubber (nr) latex at different ratios (i.e. 5/95,10/90,15/85). the effect of mass ratios and loading of copolymer on mechanical properties of nr was investigated. results showed that the maximum tensile strength and tear strength were achieved at the mass ratio of 8:2 and 10 phr copolymer. interestingly,these values of mechanical properties were both superior to the corresponding nr/pmma blend. atr-ftir andafm measurements indicated that the amount of incompatible particles on the film surface of nr/pmlma blend decreased sharply in contrast to that of nr/ pmma blend. the fracture images of sem spectroscopy also showed that the morphology of nr/pmlma was gradually becoming smooth with the increasing amount of lma units in the copolymer. from the results of dsc characterisation,it was further demonstrated that the compatibility of nr/pmlma was better than that of nr/pmma.