Development of the Direction of Replacing Natural Rubber in Elastomeric Materials

Abstract

This review examines current issues related to replacing natural rubber in rubber products. The first section of the review compares the structure and properties of natural rubber and synthetic isoprene rubber, showing the differences. The main reasons for the high cohesive strength of natural rubber are shown. The second section examines the main methods for replacing natural rubber in rubber compounds and provides an analysis of them, showing the advantages and disadvantages of each method. Based on the analysis, it is established that the most accessible and cost-effective way to replace natural rubber is to create a synthetic material, based on which rubber compounds and rubbers will be close in properties to natural rubber. An analysis of methods for increasing the cohesive strength of synthetic isoprene rubber is carried out, which will make it possible to create a material with properties close to those of natural rubber, and the most effective and accessible method is determined, i.e., the use polymer mixtures. It is shown that the combination of synthetic polyisoprene with polyethylene and other polymers makes it possible to improve the basic properties of elastomeric materials based on synthetic isoprene rubber to the properties of elastomeric materials based on natural rubber, in particular the cohesive strength of the rubber compound and the modulus and fatigue characteristics of the rubber.