Graft Copolymerization of Methyl Methacrylate and Vinyltriethoxysilane onto Natural Rubber

Abstract

Preparation and characterization of natural rubber grafted with methyl methacrylate (MMA) and vinytriethoxysilane (VTES) were performed in the present work. Graft copolymerization of methyl methacryate was carried out in latex stage, and VTES was added during the graft copolymerization of MMA. FTIR and NMR spectroscopy were used to investigate the structure of graft copolymer and determination of conversion and grafting efficiency of MMA. It confirmed that the poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and silica particles (PVTES) were successfully formed in NR-graft-PMMA-PVTES graft copolymer. Conversions of MMA were about 90-100%; however, MMA grafting efficiency decreased as the MMA concentrations increased. Tensile property of NR-graft-PMMA-PVTES was found to improve compared with that of pure NR.