Production and properties of natural rubber glove using sustainable benign accelerator

In natural polyisoprene glove manufacturing industries, the selection of accelerators in the curing system is mainly determined by the curing characteristics, maturation time required, cross-link density and mechanical properties of gloves. In this study, a new accelerator replacing conventional ones in a typical glove manufacturing process, was studied in order to produce free carcinogen dipped article. The glove properties and performance prepared by using both conventional and new proposed accelerators were studied and compared. The use of a conventional accelerator tends to release carcinogenic chemicals namely N-nitrosamine and N-nitrosatable substances. These chemicals are restrained on dipped articles under the requirement of EN 71-12:2013. Xanthogen accelerators promote the reduction of carcinogenic chemicals, but they are associated with prolonged maturation hour, which is unfavourable in the manufacturing industry. This study used a mixture of a benign accelerator, namely, diisononyldithiocarbamate and diisopropyl xanthogen polysulfide, to substitute the usage of conventional accelerators zinc dibutyl dithiocarbamate and zinc diethyl dithiocarbamate. The effects of benign accelerator loading in latex compounds were studied by focusing on the swelling index, maturation hour, carcinogenic chemical released and mechanical properties, thermal degradation and stability. Results showed no presence of N-nitrosamines and N-nitrosatable substances in the final dipped products by using 0.3 and 0.5 phr of benign accelerator. This study showed that 0.5 phr of benign accelerator achieved a moderate pre-vulcanising rate and improved the pre-ageing tensile strength and elongation by 11% and 7.0%, respectively. Moreover, its thermal stability was higher and discolouration intensity was lower as compared with the conventional accelerator.