Use of reclaimed nitrile rubber gloves as partial replacement of virgin nitrile butadiene rubber in thermoplastic vulcanisates

Recycled gloves can be used as a cheapener to make conventional rubber products. in this study,the feasibility of reclaimed nbr gloves (r-nbrg) in thermoplastic vulcanisates (tpvs) based on nitrile butadiene rubber (nbr) and polypropylene (pp) blend using the injection moulding process was investigated. the nbr based tpv obtained from this process has many advantages compared to conventional rubber products. among the outstanding advantages are the ability of tpv to be recycled easily and the higher value-added products obtained from tpv as compared to vulcanised rubber products. this paper will describe the effect of r-nbrg as a partial replacement for virgin nbr on the properties of the tpv system. the curing systems selected were based on the sulphur-accelerated curing system and peroxide curing system. the results indicate potential reduction in production costs with the possible replacement of up to 70 p.p.h.r. virgin nbr with r-nbrg in the tpvsystems.