Abstract:
Natural rubber (NR) consists of polyisoprene which absorbs liquid organics. As a result NR swells and the rate of swelling can be observed using an image processing technique. The rate of radius in a specimen was monitored with time while liquid organic substance was allowed to penetrate the NR disc radially. Mass transfer of liquid hydrocarbons into NR followed the penetration theory by which the rate of absorption was inversely proportional to the square root of time (t1/2). Experimental results suggest the introduction of a new parameter, gamma, which is a specific parameter for each organic liquid. This enables a comparison of the mass transfer rate into NR of an organic liquid to that of aromatics. Organics tested were aliphatics (C1-C8), aromatics (BTX), ether (THF), linear-alkyl benzene (LAB), alcohol (isopropyl alcohol) and glycol (2-ethyl-hexanediol, propylene glycol) for which the parameter gamma was determined to be 0.74, 1, 1.24, 1.32, 0.18, 0.21, 0.23 respectively.