PRIM Golden Jubilee International Polymer Conference 2010

Latex Foam Rubber

from Natural Rubber and Polyurethane Latex Blends
Lim H.M and M.Y. Amir Hashim,
Malaysian Rubber Board

ABSTRACT

Latex blending is a technique carried out with the aim of obtaining a combination of
properties inherent in individual polymers in the finished product. In this study, natural
rubber and polyurethane blend latex foam rubber was developed in the laboratory by
blending natural rubber latex with a waterborne polyurethane dispersion and its effect
on mechanical properties and morphology was investigated. SEM was used to visualize
the network structure of the foam. Dunlop process was employed in fabricating the
moulded latex foam rubber involving mechanical agitation of the latex into foam through
controlled coalescence of a composite dispersion of air and rubber globules. Currently
flexible polyurethane foam (FPF) is produced by the interaction of active hydrogen
compounds, water and isocynates. It is believed that polyurethane dispersion, an
environmental friendly material may be able to show similar behavior as FPF when it is
use in making foam. The objective of this research is to demonstrate the feasibility of
developing a natural rubber and polyurethane blend latex foam that shows recovery
characteristic qualitatively.

Keywords: NRL, polyurethane dispersion, SEM, latex foam rubber

INTRODUCTION
Latex foam rubber was originally made from natural rubber (NR) latex, a white sap
produced from rubber trees. Dunlop Rubber Company in England patented the latex foam
rubber process in 1929 [1]. The Dunlop process involved the mechanical agitation or
whipping of the latex into foam. Foam is produced through controlled coalescence of a
composite dispersion of air and rubber globules. It consists of a network of open or
interconnecting cells as a vulcanized structure with a porous surface [4,5]. Latex foam is
an excellent cushioning material, particularly for used in mattresses, pillows, furniture
cushions, bus and railway seating [2].
After World War II, styrene-butadiene rubber a synthetic lattices was widely used to
produce foam rubber.
Today, polyurethane is the most commonly used material for foam products. Flexible
polyurethane foam is a flexible cellular product produced by the interaction of active
hydrogen compounds, water and isocynates. They are typically made using the carbon
dioxide as the blowing agents during the reaction of water with isocyanate [3]. It is also
known as viscoelastic foam characterizes by slow recovery after compression and its
ability to contour to shapes allowing surface pressure to be distributed over a wide area.
PRIM Golden Jubilee International Polymer Conference 2010

Previous study by Angove shows acrylonitrile isoprene copolymer foam rubber

contributes to higher tensile strength and compression set [10]. Nakason prepares latex
foam rubber from graft copolymer of deproteinised natural rubber and methyl
methacrylate and blended it with high ammonia concentrated latex shows improvement
in indentation hardness and compression set [9]. Hence latex blending is a technique
carried out with the aim of obtaining a combination of properties inherent in the
individual polymers.
In this present investigation, NRL was blended with water borne polyurethane dispersion
(PUD) to produce latex foam rubber. PUD is an established material that has been
undergoing development in the past few years for more product range [8], while NRL is
green and sustainable. The objective of this research is to derive a novel material for
NRL-based foam product, thus widen the application of NRL- based in polymer foam
industry.
MATERIALS
Commercial high ammoniated natural rubber latex (NRL) concentrate is the main raw
material in the experiment. The PUD was provided by Dongsung Chemical Co. Ltd,
Korea. The composition and specification of the PUD is as shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Composition and specification of the waterborne polyurethane dispersion
Chemical description Polyurethane dispersion
Composition specification
Active substance (%) 40.0 - 42.0
pH (25°C) 8.5
Viscosity (cps)
Speed 30, spindle 2 40
Specific gravity (g/cm3) 1.0
Particle size range, m 0.20 – 0.24
Average molecular weight, MW 6.25 X 104
Appearance White liquid

METHODS
(I) Experimental
The Dunlop process, a combination of foaming and delayed action gelling was utilized to
produce the blend foam. The NRL is compounded using the formulation in Table 2.
Table 2: NRL compound formulation
  Amount
Ingredients Dry (pphr) Actual (grams)
60% Latex 100 167
18% Potassium Oleate 1 5.6
60% Sulphur 2.5 4.2
50% ZDEC 1 2
PRIM Golden Jubilee International Polymer Conference 2010

50% ZMBT 1 2
50% Wingstay L 1 2
Blends of NRL and PUD were prepared at various weight ratios. Sample 1, 2 and 3
represent different weight ratios of the blend. About 500 grams of blend compound
mixed with a frothing aid - soap to reduce the surface tension of the latex mix and was
poured into a whisk and bowl type mixer to commence whipping.
During foaming operation, increasing amount of air is included and the viscosity of
the foam rises continually. After the desired froth height has been achieved, the
secondary gelling agent was added to sharpen up the gelling. This was followed by
addition of zinc oxide. Zinc oxide plays a role in the destabilization or gelling of the
latex by forming zinc ammines through reaction with ammonia [6, 7]. Finally, the
gelling agent is added. The ingredients were added according to formulation in Table
3.
The viscous foaming liquid is then filled into a mould and vulcanized in steam oven.
After vulcanization, the foam is stripped from the mould and the process is completed by
washing and drying.
Table 3: Bowl addition formulation

Dry weight (pphr)

Ingredients NR NR:PUD NR:PUD NR:PUD
control 1 2 3
Latex or blended latex 100 70:30 60:40 50:50
18% Potassium Oleate 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5
50% Secondary gelling agent 0.8 1 1.2 1.5
50% ZnO 5 5 5 5
25% Sodium silicofluoride 1.2 2 2.5 2.5

(II) Characterization
Determination of density
Density of uncored foam is determined by calculation from the mass and volume of the
specimen. A representative specimen with skins on the top and bottom surface measuring
at least 0.01 m2 in area by full-part thickness shall be cut from an area free of voids. The
density is calculated in grams per cubic centimeter as follows:
Density = M/V
Where M = mass of specimen, g
V = volume of specimen, cm3
Indentation test
The indentation hardness index was tested according to ASTM D1055. The indentor foot
was first brought into contact with the test specimen. A contact force of 4.5 N was
applied and foam thickness was determined. The test specimen was compress until 25 %
PRIM Golden Jubilee International Polymer Conference 2010

of its original thickness was achieved. The final force in newtons including the 4.5 N
preload was observed.

Determination of elongation at break

The elongation at break value was determined according to the MS 679 test method using
an Instron 5565 Testing Machine with a crosshead speed of 500 mm/min. The test was
conducted at room temperature (25 ± 1 ºC) and test piece was cut in as parallel sided.
Determination of compression set
The compression set was tested according to MS 679. The test specimens were placed
between the plates of the compression device with the spacers on each side as in ASTM
395 – Test Method B. The specimen is then compressed to 50 % of its original thickness.
The assemble compression device was then place at room temperature for 72 hours. At
the end of the test period, the specimen was removed and leave for 30 min before
measuring the final thickness.
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
SEM analyses on latex foam samples were performed using a Jeol Sem 5300 instrument.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The foam density measurements on these blends found that the latex foams fabricated are
within the range of a high density latex foam rubber which is between 0.15-0.16 g/cm3.
The indention hardness measurement however, indicated that the addition of PUD into
NRL softens the latex foam. The feature of these foam materials is soft, compared to the
relatively high density NR foam. The softening effect occurs in all of the blended foams
as indicated in Figure 1. This observation clearly suggest that PUD can be blended with
NRL for foam products and the hardness property of the blended foams differs very much
to NRL foam, opening up possibility for new application for NRL based foam products.
The physical properties of the foam, in particular the strength properties did not differ
much as they are within precision of the test values (Figure 2). The elongation is more
interesting, as the latex foam with PUD elongated more than the NR foam (Figure 3).
The PUD acted as a softener and one advantage of these, during production, is that the
foam can be easily stripped minimizing possibility of tearing in thin products.
The compression set indicates the deformation expressed as a percentage of original
dimensions which a material retains after compressive stress is released. A higher
percentage of compression set indicates a greater deformation. The compression set of
the blend foams was comparable to the control, except sample 3 which showed a lower
value (Figure 4).
The results favoured the application of these blends in normal NRL latex operation
process due to the fact that the processing parameters used in this study is typical of
PRIM Golden Jubilee International Polymer Conference 2010

production of NRL latex foam. A simple addition of PUD changed the deformation and
recovery rate, thus, the property of the latex foam can be manipulated to suit certain
application. In foam production, the collapse foam structure can happen if the viscosity
and gel strength are not adequate to hold the structure during drying/heating. Therefore,
the blended foam in this study was visualized by SEM to gauge the structure of the
blended foam, at micro scale.
The SEM micrographs revealed structure of individual open cells with holes (Figure 5).
The shape of the foam cell is generally oval. In NR foam, the structure appeared to be
near to each and the cell formation are more random with holes that were smooth on the
edges, whereas in blended foams, the edges of holes in most of the cell seemed jagged
and the cells appeared to be overlapped, especially latex blends with higher PUD content
of 40 and 50 part. Further to that, the cells seems more structurally arrange than in the
NR foam and the shared neighboring cell of these blends, became visibly, more spherical
in shape compared to the NR latex foam which may have contributed to its recovery
characteristic qualitatively.
The horizontal length of the blended foam cells ranges from 244-407µm and the NR latex
foam from 409-427 µm. As the cell size of the foam varies, the cell size is not
significantly different. From the micrographs, it is difficult to quantify which cell belong
to PU and which is to NR, but comparing to the relatively bigger cell ranges of NR
samples, it can be deduced that the PU cells were the smaller ones.
CONCLUSION
It is feasible to develop a natural rubber and polyurethane blend latex foam rubber in the
laboratory by blending natural rubber latex with waterborne polyurethane dispersion. The
blended foam samples behave similarly to NRL foam sample, but they were softer. The
open cell structure with individual holes is one of the characteristics of NRL latex foam
in which can be explored further for other application than just as bedding and support
material. Our study suggested that PUD introduced small cell structure in NR latex foam.
PUD in NRL changed some aspect of the normal NRL, such as changing the latex foam
recovery characteristic.
ACKNOWLEGEMENTS
The authors wish to thank Mr Suhaimi Mohamad for the SEM micrographs and Mrs
Zalaha for the physical testing.

REFERENCES

[1] Madge, E.W.: Latex Foam Rubber. Maclaren & Sons Ltd., London (1962)
[2] Winspear, G.G (Eds.).: The Vanderbilt Latex Handbook. R.T. Vanderbilt Co. Inc.,
New York 216-227(1954)
[3] Flexible Polyurethane Foam. Dow Chemical Pacific Ltd., 1-28
[4] Blackley, D.C.: Polymer Latices Science and Technology volume 3: Application of
Latices (2nd edition). Chapman & Hall, London 229-273(1997)
[5] Chapman, W.H., Pounder, D.W., Murphy, E.A.: Improvements in or relating to the
Manufacture of Goods of Rubber or similar Material. BP 332525, Britain (1929)
PRIM Golden Jubilee International Polymer Conference 2010

[6] McKeand, D.J.: Influence of Soaps on Gelling Characteristics of Hevea Latices,

Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 43: 416-420 (1951)
[7] Newnham, J.L.M.: Zinc Soap Formation and the Gelling of Latex, Transactions of the
Institution of the Rubber Industry, 29(3): 160-172 (1953)
[8]Howe, W.L.: Medical Glove Market remains Tight, Rubber Asia, Vol 14(1): 117-119
(2000)
[9] Nakason, C., Kaesaman, A., Yimwan, N., and Ketsarin, K.: Preliminary study on the
Preparation of Latex Foam Rubber from Graft Copolymer of Deproteinised Natural
Rubber and Methyl Methacrylate, Journal of Rubber Research, 4(3): 141-152. (2001)
[10] Angove, S.N., Graham, E.S., Hilditch, G., Stewart, R.A., White, F.L.: High Quality
Foams from NIR Latex, Division of Rubber Chemistry ACS Inc (1965)

Figure 1: Effect of various blending ratio of polyurethane dispersion to natural rubber

latex on hardness of the blend foam
PRIM Golden Jubilee International Polymer Conference 2010

Figure 2: Effect of various blending ratio of polyurethane dispersion to natural rubber

latex on tensile strength of the blend foam

Figure 3: Effect of various blending ratio of polyurethane dispersion to natural rubber

latex on elongation at break value of the blend foam
PRIM Golden Jubilee International Polymer Conference 2010

Figure 4: Effect of various blending ratio of polyurethane dispersion to natural rubber

latex on compression set of the blend foam

NR Foam 70NR:30PUD
PRIM Golden Jubilee International Polymer Conference 2010

60NR:40PUD 50NR:50PUD

Figure 5: SEM micrograph of foam