Research on the production technology of rubber epoxy from concentrated natural rubber latex

Abstract The results of research on epoxidation technology from concentrated natural rubber latex (CNRL) and in-situ peroxyformic acid, which is synthesised from formic acid (FA) and hydrogen peroxide (HP), are presented in the article. The study investigated the influence of technological parameters of the epoxidation process, such as stabiliser content (nonylphenol ethoxylate, NP9), dry rubber content (DRC), isoprene, stirring speed, reaction time, reaction temperature, and molar ratios of hydrogen peroxide and isoprene (IP), on the epoxy resin content of the product. Research results have shown that the epoxidation reaction with NP9 at 10% takes from 2.5 to 20 hours under the following conditions: latex composition contains from 16 to 24% DRC, stirring speed 100 rpm, reaction temperature response 30 to 70 °C, HP/IP molar ratio changes from 0.7 to 1.3, FA/IP ratio is 0.2, the product was stable and without coagulation. The product was obtained with an epoxy content of 23.4 to 43.6%. This is the basis for building an epoxidized natural rubber (ENR) production process to create a series of natural rubber products that are renewable, environmentally friendly, low-cost, and have many industrial applications.