As a material having high rubber content, latex reclaim (white reclaim) has been used in the production of premium grade rubber products like tyres, retreading materials, etc. Introduction of latex reclaim (LR) is also an ideal method to reduce the cost of rubber products. In the present work, natural rubber (NR), butadiene rubber (BR), and latex reclaim (LR) combinations were prepared to develop cost efficient tread materials. LR was mixed with NR/BR at various proportions to produce tread materials which will comply with national specifications. The blends were prepared and the cure and mechanical properties were investigated. Results have indicated that the scorch time and cure time had decreased with the increase of reclaim loading. The mechanical properties like tensile strength, tear strength, abrasion resistance decrease with the increase in the LR content. It was found that 70-80% of the mechanical properties were retained even after addition of 30 phr of LR. The thermal behaviour and activation energy of NR/BR/LR system was investigated using thermogravimetry TGA analysis and increased activation energy showed that the thermal stability has increased when the amount of LR is high. SEM studies had indicated the morphology change due to the viscosity mismatch between NR and BR especially in the presence of LR.

Commercially available carboxylated acrylonitrile butadiene latex (XNBR) was physically blended with natural rubber latex (NR) at varying blend ratios to investigate its effect on the mechanical properties and morphology. Methyl methacrylate grafted natural rubber latex (MG) was added to the latex blends as a third polymer to study whether it could enhance the mechanical properties of the latex blend films. It was found that the tensile strength of the blend films irrespective of composition decreased when the two latexes were blended as compared to the virgin latex films. The modulus 300 decreased while the elongation at break and tear strength of the blend films increased gradually as the ratio of NR increased in the blend films. It was found that the MG did not enhance the mechanical properties of the XNBR/NR blend films under the current experimental condition. AFM phase imaging analysis revealed enhanced polymer distribution and evidence of NR-MG-XNBR interactions.