Acidified CTS was dispersed and immobilized, as confirmed by
FT-IR spectral analysis, in ENR50. SEM micrographs of CTS-t-ENR
show that acetic acid improved the interfacial interactions between
the CTS and the rubber matrices leading to the increase in
tensile strength up to 5 phr. Due to the hydrophilic nature of
acidified CTS, toluene absorbency was found to decrease with the
increase in CTS loading in the biocomposites. On the other hand,
percentage water uptake was found to increase significantly and
the phenomenon is attributed to not only the acidified CTS but also
the presence of voids in the rubber matrices.