Morphology and properties of natural rubber with nanomatrix of non-rubber components

The morphology of natural rubber was observed by transmission electron microscopy. Nanomatrix of non-rubber components such as proteins and phospholipids was found to be inherently formed in natural rubber, in which natural rubber particles of about 0.5mm in average diameter were dispersed. The nanomatrix of non-rubber components disappeared after deproteinization of natural rubber with urea. Stress at break of serum rubber was higher than that of deproteinized natural rubber, while strain at break did not change. When the amount of the non-rubber components increased, the stress at break became significantly dependent upon the amount of non-rubber components. Viscoelastic properties of natural rubber were also dependent upon the nanomatrix of non-rubber components. Storage modulus of natural rubber increased significantly, when the amount of the non-rubber components increased. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.