Mechanical, thermal and morphological features of biodegradable crosslinked natural rubber latex- dextrin blends

Biodegradable crosslinked blends of natural rubber latex (NRL) and dextrin (DXT) have been prepared in various ratios, with cumene hydrogen peroxide (CHP) as the curing agent. Characterization techniques employing infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and X-ray diffraction provide insights into the physico-chemical properties of the blends. The phase morphology and topographical analysis have been done through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) examinations respectively. Soil degradation studies, duly assisted with SEM examinations, were performed to confirm the biodegradability of the films. The stress-strain characteristics were analyzed using the Raman spectra. The mechanical properties of the cross-linked blends have been compared with relevant theoretical models. The experimental results for the mechanical properties were subjected to a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) using MINITAB software. The optimized crosslinked polymer blend showed biocompatibility with L929 (mouse fibroblast) cells and has been proposed for controlled drug delivery, with tuneable release characteristics.