Preliminary Study on Preparation of Deproteinized Natural Rubber/Graphene Oxide Nanocomposite

Deproteinized natural rubber/graphene oxide (DPNR/GO) nanocomposite was prepared and characterized in the present work. GO was synthesized by oxidation process via Hummer modified method, and it was characterized with X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and water contact angle. The presence of hydrophilic functional groups in GO sheet was confirmed by FT-IR, NMR and water contact angle. The characteristic XRD scattering pattern of GO was observed at about 2θ= 9.5° and it confirmed the successful synthesis of GO. The GO was incorporated into DPNR via graft copolymerization using tetraethylenpentamine/tert-butyl hydroperoxide as redox initiators. The DPNR/GO nanocomposites with 0.1, 0.5, and 1.0 phr of GO were fabricated and characterized through FTIR, tensile strength, and scanning electron microscope. The stress at break of DPNR/GO nanocomposite increased when the GO suspension was homogenized before the graft copolymerization. The GO content is found to increase the stress at break for the nanocomposite; however, the hardness of the nanocomposite did not change at high GO loading. The result indicated that the formation of nanocomposite materials between natural rubber and GO was affected by the sheet morphology and hydrophilicity of GO.