Natural rubber is created by processing the latex of a plant, Hevea brasiliensis, which is indigenous to the Amazon valley and is the only known plant to produce high — molecular-weight linear polymer. The latex is ‘tapped’ from the tree then collected and treated with a stabiliser and brought to a processing centre. There are many different types and grades of natural rubber varying with colour, cleanliness and uniformity of appearance.
As with most elastomers, natural rubber can be readily bonded with cyanoacrylates although in these trials [2] the adhesion achieved with the toughened cyanoacrylates was relatively low (Table 4.7).
Table 4.6 Adhesive shear strengths (fluorosilicone rubber)
Notes: * Substrate failure |
Adhesive type |
Description |
Shear strength (N/mm2) |
Cyanoacrylate |
Standard ethyl |
>2.1* |
Toughened |
0.9 |
|
Ethyl + primer |
>1.8* |
|
Two-part acrylic |
MMA |
0.3 |
Silicone |
Alkoxy silicone |
0.3 |
UV acrylic |
Visible light cure |
1.6 |
Table 4.7 Adhesive shear strengths (natural rubber) |