DOI: https://doi.org/10.55373/mjchem.v25i3.87

Keywords: Bio-filler; cellulose; natural rubber latex; tensile properties; swelling behaviours

Abstract

The aim of this work was to study the tensile properties and the swelling behaviour of natural rubber latex (NRL) incorporated with different loadings of cellulose derived from cucumber pomace. Cellulose was extracted from cucumber pomace by acid hydrolysis process. The amount of cellulose fillers added in NRL was varied from 2 to 10 phr. The unfilled NRL and NRL/ cellulose films were prepared through dipping process. The NRL/cellulose films were subjected to tensile testing to determine the tensile strength (TS), the elongation at break (EB), and the modulus (M100, M300, M500). Swelling test was also conducted on NRL/cellulose films to measure the crosslink density of the samples. In this study, the highest tensile strength of NRL/cellulose films was recorded at 10 phr loading of cellulose. However, the fluctuation values of the tensile strength could be caused by the poor dispersion of the cellulose in NRL. The swelling test also found that the swelling percentage of NRL films decreased with increased cellulose loading, due to free spaces in NRL compounds that filled with cellulose which restricted the diffusion of the solvent. The overall result showed that cellulose derived from cucumber pomace can be potentially developed as bio-filler in NRL.