Effect of Ball Milling Time on Treated Banana Stem Fibre on the Mechanical Properties of Natural Rubber (NR) Latex Films

By : A.S. Siti Nuraya , A. Baharina , A.R. Azura

Page No: 145-154

Abstract
The banana stem fibre is added to natural rubber (NR) latex compound in order to increase the biodegradability of NR latex products. Banana stem fibre was soaked in 2% of sodium hypochlorite solution for 24 hours at 40°C. After that, it was ball-milled with variable milling times (0, 24, 48 and 72 hours) to produce a series of banana stem fibre dispersions containing 10% fibre of different particle sizes. The resulting dispersions were added to NR latex compounds. The effect of milling time on the fibre size of the dispersion and the properties of the NR latex films was studied. It was observed that the particle size of the banana stem fibre reduced with milling time. NR latex films containing smaller banana stem fibre particles have higher moduli (at 100% and 300% elongation), higher tensile and tear strengths. Except for the milling time for 24 hours, increasing the milling time reduces the swelling index of the NR latex films. Ball milling the banana steam fibre for 24 hours produced fibre whiskers which increase the interaction between the banana stem particles with rubber matrix.

Authors :
A.S. Siti Nuraya and A. Baharina : School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
A.R. Azura : School of Materials and Mineral Resources Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.