PROCESS OPTIMIZATION OF GREEN AQUEOUS-BASED EXTRACTION TECHNOLOGY OF TARAXACUM KOK-SAGHYZ RUBBER

ABSTRACT Taraxacum kok-saghyz (TKS), known as Russian dandelion, can produce high-quality natural rubber. The dry weight content of rubber in the TKS roots was found to be approximately 6–9%, of which 61% and 39% were stored in the root bark and root flesh, respectively. The content of lignin and holocellulose accounted for about 40% of the total root. Two new aqueous-based rubber extraction processes were proposed and optimized, namely, the strong water shearing process and the acid–base extraction process. These two processes made the purity of rubber reach about 91% and 94%, respectively. TKS rubber was characterized as having similar composition, and molecular structure to Hevea NR, and TKS rubber samples did not exhibit the strain-induced crystallization (SIC) phenomenon. TKS rubber was blended into a winter tire tread formulation and tested. The results showed no significant differences in processing and mechanical properties from the other formulations.