Natural Rubber and Latex
Natural Rubber and Latex
Natural Rubber (also known as India rubber, gum elastic, and caoutchouc) is an elastic substance obtained from the latex sap of trees, especially those belonging to the genera Hevea and Ficus. It is the milky sap found in the bark of the tropical trees. Technically speaking, natural rubber is an elastomer or an elastic hydrocarbon polymer. Natural rubber is one of the rubber types that also includes vulcanized rubber, which is finished into a variety of rubber products.
Types
- RSS grades 1X, 1, 3, 4 and 5 (Ribbed Smoked Sheet)
- ISNR 10 and ISNR 20 (Indian Standard Natural Rubber)
- SVR 3L (Vietnam) and CSR 3L (Cambodia)
How Do You Make Natural Rubber?
Natural rubber must first be tapped from a rubber tree, then processed with chemicals and heat to be used in manufacturing. The tree is cut and the sap drips into a cup. A third of the latex is rubber at this point, held in a colloidal suspension, and another third is water. To refine the latex into rubber, latex is mixed with formic acid to make the rubber coagulate into curds, which are then washed and pressed into blocks or pressed into sheets that are then smoked. Finally it’s made into a form, either by calendaring or extrusion, then vulcanized, which makes it more durable, elastic, and resilient.
Uses of natural rubber
Natural rubber is used in production of tyres, automobile parts, airbags, flooring, lining, footwear, clothing, gaskets, erasers, nozzles, gloves, bands, sports goods, floating products, anti-vibration and soundproofing products, etc.