Thermoplastic natural rubber based on linear-low-density polyethylene

Abstract

Abstract Thermoplastic natural rubber (TPNR) is one of the alternative natural rubber (NR) products obtained by blending NR with any compatible thermoplastics, e.g., high-density polyethylene (HDPE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), linear-low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), polystyrene (PS), polylactic acid (PLA) at the temperature above the melting point of plastics, which is always above the softening point of NR. Unlike vulcanized NR, TPNR is recyclable and convertible to the final articles using the existing plastic technologies, including extrusion and injection molding. TPNR materials based on NR/LLDPE blends filled with two types of inorganic fillers, i.e., titanium dioxide and silica, were prepared and their properties were discussed in the current work. Silica provided a better reinforcing effect to the NR/LLDPE blends, whereas the blends filled with titanium dioxide exhibited excellent UVA and weather resistance. The resulting NR/LLDPE blends filled with inorganic fillers can be injection molded to form the products with desired shapes.