This study indicates that the degradative effects of guayule resin on natural rubber are due to the presence of unsaturated fatty acids in the resin. Since linoleic acid is, by far, the most abundant unsaturated fatty acid in guayule resin, it appears that linoleic acid is primarily responsible for the degradative effects of guayule resin on natural rubber. A possible mechanism to explain the acceleration of natural rubber degradation caused by linoleic acid can be developed by fitting linoleic acid into the Bolland oxidation mechanism for hydrocarbon polymers.
Guayule rubber has been used both in the resinous and deresinated form for more than sixty years during periods of either scarcity or high prices of hevea rubber. During this time little or no efforts have been made to standardize the individual processes to a point where the products had specifications similar to the “Technically Specified Rubbers”. This lack of specifications consequently left users of the guayule rubbers with various opinions of the capabilities of this type of natural rubber in their commercial products. It was generally believed that the rubber was only good for low-grade products or where guayule was only used as a tackifier for other rubbers. Recent interest in the utilization of arid regions and the increasing need for less dependence on foreign sources has led the Mexican government to develop a modern guayule product. It was the purpose of this study to evaluate Mexican guayule rubber in cooperation with CIQA in an effort to determine processing and vulcanization characteristics of the products prepared in their pilot plant in Saltillo, Mexico.
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