to these common problems in glove manufacturing, the idea to reuse the rejected gloves in blending with virgin rubber
is developed.
In this work, the blending of recycled chloroprene rubber (rCR) gloves with two different types of natural rubber
is investigated. It is well known that chloroprene rubber (CR) has demonstrated resistance to hydraulic fluids, gasoline,
alcohols, organic acids, alkalis, oils and fats and may also provide enhanced chemical and wear resistance compared
to natural or other synthetic rubbers in some situations1. These properties indicate CR is stable and high resistance
towards common degrading agencies. Hence, the recycling of CR is necessary as a solution for disposal problem.
Two types of natural rubber with different in polarity were used namely Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR L) and
modified natural rubber known as Epoxidized Natural Rubber (ENR). The epoxidation of NR to produce ENR
involves the random introduction of epoxide groups onto the double bond of the NR polymer chain2 where ENR
properties resembling those of synthetic rubbers rather than natural rubber3. ENR 50 is a chemically modified natural
rubber which contains 50 mol% of epoxidation4 . It is reported that the blends of NR/CR are immiscible 5, 6 and the
ENR 50/CR blends are miscible up to certain degree depended on several factors7-9. However, the works mentioned
are based on the CR and only a few studies work on blending with recycled chloroprene rubber was reported to the
best knowledge of the authors. This study will be reported and compared the effects of various blend ratios on the
cure characteristics, tensile properties, and morphology of SMR L/rCR and ENR 50/rCR blends.