The majority of minerals present in natural rubber are associated with the macrogel: An ICP-MS and SEM/EDX investigation

Sebastien Rolere (1) , Christine Char (1, 2) , Jean Marie Taulemesse (3) , Anne Bergeret (3) , Jerome St-Beuve (1, 2) , Frédéric Bonfils (1, 2)

1 UMR IATE - Ingénierie des Agro-polymères et Technologies Émergentes
2 Cirad-PERSYST - Département Performances des systèmes de production et de transformation tropicaux
3 Pôle MPA - Pôle Matériaux Polymères Avancés

The mineral composition of the insoluble (macrogel) and soluble fractions of two natural rubber (NR) samples made from the latex of two different clones (RRIM600 from Thailand and GT1 from Côte d'Ivoire) was determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS). The ICP‐MS results showed that mineral elements were concentrated in the macrogel. The major mineral elements found in macrogel were phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, and sulfur. Some mineral elements were mostly concentrated in micron‐sized mineral aggregates, visible at the surface of the samples using scanning electron microscopy coupled with an energy dispersive X‐ray microanalyzer (SEM/EDX). The nature of these mineral aggregates was found to be highly variable. Their inhomogeneous distribution in the macrogel indicates that these aggregates do not have a major influence on macrogel structure.

Mots clés: characterization; gels; microscopy; properties; rubber

Domaines: Sciences de l'ingénieur [physics]

Sebastien Rolere, Christine Char, Jean Marie Taulemesse, Anne Bergeret, Jerome St-Beuve, et al.. The majority of minerals present in natural rubber are associated with the macrogel: An ICP-MS and SEM/EDX investigation. Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 2016, 133 (9), pp.43062. ⟨10.1002/app.43062⟩. ⟨hal-02906424⟩