Characterization on the Thermal Oxidation of Raw Natural Rubber Thin Film using Image and FT-IR Analysis = Characterization on the Thermal Oxidation of Raw Natural Rubber Thin Film using Image and FT-IR Analysis

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

In this study, the thermal oxidation of raw natural rubber (NR) was investigated under controlled conditions by optical image and fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) analysis. The thermal oxidation was performed on a transparent thin film of raw NR coated on a KBr window in a dark chamber at 80℃ under low humidity conditions to completely exclude moisture and restrict light oxidation. Images of the thin film of raw NR were obtained before and after thermal oxidation. FT-IR absorption spectra were measured in the transmission mode at different thermal exposure times. The thermal oxi­dation of NR was examined by the changes in the absorption peaks at 3449, 1736, 1447, 1377, 1242, 1072, and 833 cm^-1, which corresponded to a hydroxyl group (-OH), a carbonyl group (-C=O) from an aldehyde and a ketone, a methylene group (-CH₂-), a methyl group (-CH₃), a carbon-oxygen single bond (-C-O) from an epoxide, a carbon-oxygen bond (-C-O) from an ether, an alcohol, a peroxide, or a cyclic peroxide, and a cis-methine group (cis-CCH₃=CH-), respectively. In the initial stage of thermal oxidation, two different types of free radicals were produced quickly and randomly by the homolytic cleav­age of a double bond and allylic hydrogen abstraction. Aldehydes and ketones were formed from chain scissions of the dou­ble bonds and alcohols were produced from allylic hydrogen abstraction at the methylene or methyl groups. Two reactions seemed to proceed competitively with each other. At a later stage, oxidative crosslinks seemed to dominate through the com­bination of free radicals such as an allyl radical (CH=CHCH₂·), alkoxy radical (RO·), and peroxy radical (ROO·) and the reaction of a hydroperoxide (-ROOH) with a double bond. The image obtained after thermal oxidation showed hardening without cracks. Based on these observations, a plausible two-step mechanism was suggested for chain hardening caused by the thermal oxidation.