Rubber-Layered Clay Nanocomposites

Department of Polymer Science and Rubber Technology,Cochin University of Science and Technology

Compatibilisation of Powdered Nitrile Rubber Toughened Polystyrene

The present study aims at the preparation of an ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) type toughened thermoplastic by melt blending polystyrene (PS) and powdered nitrile rubber (NBR). The product is an interesting class of toughened thermoplastic, which would combine the superior mechanical and processing characteristics of PS and the excellent oil-resistant properties of NBR. In this thesis an attempt has been made to investigate systematically the effect of compatibilisation and dynamic vulcanisation on the morphology and properties of powdered nitrile rubber toughened polystyrene.

Studies on in situ precipitated silica filled rubber composites with special reference to NR, NBR and SBR

Precipitated silica is the most promising alternative for carbon black in tyre tread compounds due to its improved performance in terms of rolling resistance and wet grip.But its poor processability is a serious limitation to its commercial application.This thesis suggests a novel route for the incorporation of silica in rubbers,i.e.,precipitation of silica in rubber latex followed by coagulation of the latex to get rubber-silica maseterbatch.Composites with in situ precipitated silica showed improved processability and mechanical properties,when compared to conventional silica composites.

Applications of cardanol in rubber processing

This research project explores the utilization of cardanol in various capacities for rubber processing. Cardanol is a phenol with a long side chain in the meta position of the benzene ring. It is obtained by the vacuum distillation of cashew Hut shell liquid (CNSL) which is a cheap agro-byproduct. In this study, the plasticizer property of cardanol was investigated in silica filled and HAF black filled NR, NBR, EPDM and CR by comparing cure characteristics and mechanical properties of vulcanizates containing conventional plasticizer with those containing cardanol as plasticizer. The co-activator, antioxidant and accelerator properties were investigated in gum samples of NR, NBR, EPDM and CR by comparing the properties of vulcanizates which contain conventional co-activator, antioxidant and accelerator with those in which each of them was replaced by cardanol. The general effectiveness of cardanol was investigated by determination of cure time , measurement of physical and mechanical properties, ageing studies, crosslink density, extractability, FTIR spectra, TGA etc.The results show that cardanol can be a substitute for aromatic oil in both silica filled and HAF black filled NR. Again, it can replace dioctyl phthalate in both silica filled and HAF black filled NBR. Similarly, cardanol Can replace naphthenic oil in silica filled as well as HAF black filled EPDM and CR. The cure characteristics and mechanical properties are comparable in all the eight cases. The co-activator property of cardanol is comparable to stearic acid in all the four rubbers. The cure characteristics and mechanical properties in this case are also comparable. The antioxidant ,property of cardanol is comparable to TQ in all the four rubbers. The antioxidant property of cardanol is comparable to TQ in all the four case of NBR and EPDM.The accelerator property of cardarlol is comparable with CBS in the case of NBR and EPDM. No accelerator property is observed in the case of NR. The accelerator property of cardanol in CR is not negligible when compared with TMTD.

Magnetic, Dielectric and Physicomechanical Properties of Rubber Ferrite Nanocomposites

In the present study the preparation and characterisation of rubber ferrite composites containing nickel ferrite and gamma ferric oxide have been dealt with.Synthetic rubbers viz. ethylene propylene diene rubber and neoprene rubber were used for the incorporation of nickel ferrite and gamma ferric oxide for the synthesis of RFCs. Incorporation of ferrites were carried out according to a specific recipe for various loadings of the magnetic fillers. The ferrites used for the preparation of RFCs were synthesised using sol-gel method and structural characterisation was carried out. Experimental techniques like X-ray diffraction, Transmission electron microscopy and other analytical techniques were used for this. Precharaterised ferrites were then incorporated at different loading into rubber according to conventional mixing methods. The cure characteristics, mechanical, dielectric, magnetic and microwave properties of these composites were evaluated. The effect of carbon black on these properties of RFCs were carried out.

Design and Development of Instrumentation Systems to determine the Dry Rubber Content in Natural Rubber Latex

Hevea latex is a natural biological liquid of very complex composition .Besides rubber hydrocarbons,it contains many proteinous and resinous substances,carbohydrates,inorganic matter,water,and others.The Dry Rubber Content (DRC) of latex varies according to season, tapping system,weather,soil conditions ,clone,age of the tree etc. The true DRC of the latex must be determined to ensure fair prices for the latex during commercial exchange.The DRC of Hevea latex is a very familiar term to all in the rubber industry.It has been the basis for incentive payments to tappers who bring in more than the daily agreed poundage of latex.It is an important parameter for rubber and latex processing industries for automation and verious decesion making processes.This thesis embodies the efforts made by me to determine the DRC of rubber latex following different analytical tools such as MIR absorption,thermal analysis.dielectric spectroscopy and NIR reflectance.The rubber industry is still Looking for a compact instrument that is accurate economical,easy to use and environment friendly.I hope the results presented in this thesis will help to realise this goal in the near future.

Studies on Natural Rubber/Clay Nanocomposites: Effect of Maleic Anhydride Grafting of Rubber

Department of Polymer Science and Rubber Technology, Cochin University of Science and Technology

Loading dependence similarities on the cure time and mechanical properties of rubber ferrite composites containing nickel zinc ferrite

Composite magnetic materials have the unique advantage of property modification for tailoring devices for various applications. Rubber ferrite composites (RFCs) prepared by incorporating ferrites in rubber matrixes have the advantage of easy mouldability and flexibility. RFCs containing various loadings of nickel zinc ferrite (NZF) (Ni1 xZnxFe2O4) in a natural rubber matrix have been prepared. The cure characteristics and the mechanical properties of these composites were evaluated. The effect of loading on the cure characteristics and tensile properties were also evaluated. It is found that the loading dependence on the cure time and mechanical properties exhibit an identical pattern.

Impacts of Climate variability on Agriculture in Kerala

The study revealed that southwest monsoon rainfall in Kerala has been declining while increasing in post monsoon season. The annual rainfall exhibits a cyclic trend of 40-60 years, with a significant decline in recent decades. The intensity of climatological droughts was increasing across the State of Kerala through it falls under heavy rainfall zone due to unimodal rainfall pattern. The moisture index across the State of Kerala was moving from B4 to B3 humid, indicating that the State was moving from wetness to dryness within the humid climate.The study confirms that a warming Kerala is real as maximum, minimum and mean temperatures and temperature ranges are increasing. The rate of increase in maximum temperature was high (1.46°C) across the high ranges, followed by the coastal belt (1.09°C) of Kerala while the rate of increase was relatively marginal (0.25°C) across the midlands. The rate of increase in temperature across the high ranges is probably high because of deforestation. It indicates that the highranges and coastal belts in Kerala are vulnerable to global warming and climate change when compared to midlands.Interestingly, the trend in annual rainfall is increasing at Pampadumpara (Idukki), while declining at Ambalavayal across the highranges. In the case of maximum temperature, it was showing increasing trend at Pampadumpara while declining trend at Ambalavayal. In the case of minimum temperature it is declining at Pampadumpara while increasing in Ambalavalal.The paddy productivity in Kerala during kharif / virippu is unlikely to decline due to increasing temperature on the basis of long term climate change, but likely to decline to a considerable extent due to prolonged monsoon season, followed by unusual summer rains as noticed in 2007-08 and 2010-11.All the plantation crops under study are vulnerable to climate variability such as floods and droughts rather than long term changes in temperature and rainfall.

Characterization of Wastes from Natural Rubber and Rubber Wood Processing Industries and Their Utilization for Biomethanation

The research work which was carried out to characterization of wastes from natural rubber and rubber wood processing industries and their utilization for biomethanation. Environmental contamination is an inevitable consequence of human activity. The liquid and solid wastes from natural rubber based industries were: characterized and their use for the production of biogas investigated with a view to conserve conventional energy, and to mitigate environmental degradation.Rubber tree (flevea brasiliensis Muell. Arg.), is the most important commercial source of natural rubber and in india. Recently, pollution from the rubber processing factories has become very serious due to the introduction of modern methods and centralized group processing practices.The possibility of the use of spent slurry as organic manure is discussed.l0 percent level of PSD, the activity of cellulolytic, acid producing,proteolytic, lipolytic and methanogenic bacteria were more in the middle stage of methanogenesis.the liquid wastes from rubber processing used as diluents in combination with PSD, SPE promoted more biogas production with high methane content in the gas.The factors that favour methane production like TS, VS, cellulose and hemicellulose degradation were favoured in this treatment which led to higher methane biogenesis.The results further highlight ways and means to use agricultural wastes as alternative sources of energy.

Short Nylon-6 Fibre/Rubber-Toughened Polystyrene Composites

The thesis describes studies on development of short Nylon-6 fibre composites based on rubber-toughened polystyrene (PS). Toughening was done using natural rubber (NR), styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) and whole tyre reclaim (WTR). The composites were prepared by melt mixing in an internal mixer at 170 oC. It was found that the optimum blend ratio was 85/15 for PS/NR, 90/10 for PS/SBR and 90/22 for PS/WTR blends. The effect of dynamic vulcanisation on 85/15 PS/NR and 90/10 PS/SBR blends using dicumyl peroxide (DCP) at various concentrations were also studied. The dynamic crosslinking improved the tensile properties, flexural properties, impact strength and dynamic mechanical properties of both the blends. The effect of unmodified and resorcinol formaldehyde latex (RFL)-coated short Nylon-6 fibres on the mechanical properties, morphology and dynamic mechanical properties of 85/15 PS/NR, 90/10 PS/SBR and 90/22 PS/WTR blends were studied. Fibre loading was varied from 0 to 3 wt.%. For 85/15 PS/NR blend, there was a significant enhancement in tensile properties, flexural properties and impact strength with 1 wt.% of both unmodified and RFL-coated fibres. Dynamic mechanical analysis revealed that the storage modulus at room temperature was maximum at 1 wt.% fiber loading for both composites. The surface functionality of the fiber was improved by giving alkali treatment. Maleic anhydride-grafted-polystyrene (MA-g-PS) was prepared and used as a compatibiliser. The effect of MA-g-PS on the composites was investigated with respect to mechanical properties, morphology and dynamic mechanical properties. The compatibiliser loading was varied from 0 to 2 wt.%. The properties were enhanced significantly in the case of treated and untreated fibre composites at a compatibiliser loading of 0.75 wt.%. SEM analysis confirmed better bonding between the fibre and the matrix. Dynamic mechanical studies showed that the storage modulus at room temperature improved for treated fibre composites in the presence of compatibiliser. In the case of 90/10 PS/SBR composites, the addition of short Nylon-6 fibres at 1 wt.% loading improved the tensile modulus, flexural properties and impact strength while the tensile strength was marginally reduced. The surface treated fibers along with compatibiliser at 0.5 wt.% improved the tensile properties, flexural properties and impact strength. DMA reveale that the storage modulus at room temperature was better for composites containing untreated fibre and the compatibiliser. In the case of 90/22 PS/WTR blends, 1 wt.% unmodified fibre and 0.5 wt.% RFL-coated fibres improved tensile modulus, flexural properties and impact strength. Tensile strength was improved marginally. The surface treatment of Nylon fibre and the addition of compatibiliser at 0.5 wt.% enhanced the tensile properties, flexural properties and impact strength. The dynamic mechanical analysis showed that the storage modulus at room temperature was better for untreated fibre composites in conjunction with the compatibiliser. The thermal stability of PS/NR was studied by TGA. Thermal stability of the blends improved with dynamic vulcanisation and with the incorporation of RFL-coated Nylon fibres. The untreated and partially hydrolyzed fibre composites in conjunction with the compatibiliser enhanced the thermal stability. Kinetic studies showed that the degradation of the blends and the composites followed first order kinetics.

Study on acceleratore in rubber vulcanization with special reference to the binary systems containing substituted dithiobiurets

The thesis entitled Study on Accelerators in Rubber Vulcanization with Special Reference to the Binary Systems Containing Substituted Dithiobiurets. It includes a detailed study on the binary accelerator systems containing substituted dithiobiurets in natural rubber and NR latex and dithiobiurets in SBR and NR-SBR blends vulcanization systems. It deals with the experimental procedure adopted for the preparation of DTB-II and DTB-III; the procedure for compounding and vulcanization and determination of physical properties like modulus, tensile strength, elongation at break, hardness, compression set, heat build up etc. The results indicate that there is efficient acceleration activity of the dithiobiurets in the vulcanization of natural rubber latex containing TMT. The study of dithiobiurets in natural rubber and NR latex reveal that they are having definite accelerating effect in SBR vulcanization systems.

The economics of rubber plantation industry in kerala

The study is an objective analysis of the importance of the economics of rubber plantation industry in Kerala. The study covers a period of 25 years ranging from 1950-51 to 1974-75. The data for the study were obtained partly from published documents such as: (1) The Plantation Inquiry Commission Report (for 1950s) (2) The Tariff Commission Reports (for 1960s) (3) Indian Rubber Statistics (for 1970s) and partly from personal inquiries. The thesis is divided into three parts consisting of eight chapters. Part I deals with the importance, growth, present position, and the scope of the industry. Part II discusses in detail the various development schemes, their impact, the role of small holding sector in the development of the rubber plantation industry and the problems faced by small holdings. Part III analyses the problems connected with marketing, cost, profitability and the development potential of the industry

The economics of tea plantations in South India

Thc tea industry in lndia is going through a period of crisis. The crisis in brought about mainly by cost caculation and declining or stagnant prices. The impact of the present crisis is felt most by the owners of tea plantations in Kcrala . The present study assumes significance due to the fact that the critic which already affected Keralas tea industry is now threatening to extend to other tea-growing areas in south India. Today, ensuring a favourablc price to the producers via-a-via possibilities or reducing the cost of production through increase in productivity of land and labour are the main considerations. The main purpose of the study is to analyse the factors behind the crisis as well as exploring immediate and long-term measures for the sustained growth of the industry.

Influence of compounding and process variables on quality of condams made from natural rubber latex

Condoms are widely accepted as a contraceptive for family planning and population control. It is also accepted as the most effective barrier against sexually transmitted diseases, especially AIDS, the incurable disease. But presence of pinholes and low film strength of condoms make it unsuitable for the purpose. Quality improvement of condoms by reducing the pinhole formation and increasing the film strength is thus an essential requirement for population control as well as for preventing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Strict implementation of WHO specification of condoms further increases the rejection percentage. This causes higher rejection loss to condom manufacturers because the defects could be identified only at the final stage of processing. If the influence of various factors which cause these defects is known, manufacturers can take remedial measures to reduce the defectives so that rejection loss can be decreased and quality of condoms increased. In the present study, it was proposed to conduct experiments to improve the quality of condoms by reducing the pinhole rejection percentage and increasing the tensile properties, burst volume, and burst pressure. Ageing property improvement also was an important target among other parameters. Until a cure for AIDS is found, a high quality latex condom is the only effective device in the prevention of the spread of HIV, AIDS and STD's. Hence it is all the more necessary to have high quality condoms.