Influence of the synthesis parameters on the properties of natural rubber grafted poly-3-hydroxybutyrate

Graft copolymers of natural rubber (NR) and poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) with 60: 40 ratio were synthesized in chlorobenzene. Two types of initiators namely azoisobutyronitrile (AIBN) and benzoyl peroxide (BPO) AIBN and BPO were employed to initiate the free radical grafting of the two polymers. The influence of the various types of initiator loadings was also investigated. Estimation of the grafted NR was performed using FTIR. The thermal stability and crystallization behavior of NR-g-PHB was studied using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) TGA as well as DSC respectively. The absence of the C=C peak of NR in the FTIR spectra confirmed that PHB grafted on this site after the breakage of the C=C bond. The increase in initiator loading, improved the smoothness of the NR-g-PHB. Moreover, single Tg were observed for NR-g-PHB which indicate that no phase separation occurs and the thermal stability of pristine NR after grafting was improved compared with that of NR alone.