Natural rubber latex (NRL) is a biopolymer consisting of isoprene monomers in a cis configuration connected by double bonds that can degrade naturally. Most natural rubber (NR) based products are single-use items and its microbial degradation process is relatively slow. Hence, this review highlights the importance in the enhancement of biodegradation of NR, the methods applied to increase the biodegradation rate, and characterization of biodegradation of rubber. The biodegradability of NR-based products is enhanced via selective microorganism strains, suitable composting environment and the addition of biofillers. Rubber oxygenase enzymes and latex cleavage protein are major contributors in the biodegradation of NR-based products, while biofillers such as chitosan, cellulose whiskers and starch enhances biodegradation rate up to 60 %. Biodegradation of NR-based products is confirmed through characterization of physicochemical, thermal and mechanical properties using SEM, XRD, FTIR, GPC, TGA, UTM, physical appearance and weight loss. NR-based materials with enhanced biodegradability have many uses, thus its customizability should be studied further in terms of different product forms, fabrication method, orientation of biofiller used and incorporation of metal organic frameworks.

The current study discusses the preparation and characterization of green composite from coarse wool fabric and natural rubber (NR) latex. Natural rubber latex was coated on the coarse wool fabric by the hand lay-up method and vulcanized to form a flexible composite sheet. Standard techniques were used to determine the physicomechanical parameters, including areal density, thickness, solvent diffusion, and abrasion resistance. Scanning electron microscopy was used to analyze the morphology of the fracture surfaces. The composite sample was further analyzed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to determine changes in the chemical structure. The viscoelastic properties of the composite were investigated using a dynamic mechanical analyzer. The aging of the composite with respect to accelerated temperature, UV radiation, and soil burial was also investigated through standard methods. The developed coarse wool-rubber latex composite was found quite flexible, unlike conventional stiff fiber-reinforced composites. The scanning electron microscopy images depicted that rubber latex infiltrated the wool fabric matrix. The solvent diffusion studies showed slow penetration of water and toluene inside the composite due to a dense network of natural rubber inside the wool fabric. During the soil burial test, the composite lost 13% of its weight. A clutch bag and a shoulder bag were developed using the prepared composite. The newly developed coarse wool-NR latex composite has potential uses in technical textiles, conveyor belts, and fashion accessories.Highlights Natural rubber (NR) latex was coated on the coarse wool fabric and vulcanized. The wool-NR latex composite showed excellent physico-mechanical properties. The thermal and UV aging properties were also found to be good. The developed composite is flexible, derived purely from natural sources, and inexpensive. The wool-NR latex composite could find potential applications in fashion accessories.

A few recent studies introduced natural rubber latex (NRL) as a stabilizer for improving the mechanical properties of soil such as ductility, compressive and tensile strengths, durability, etc. However, none of these studies addressed the effect of NRL treatment on swelling and compressibility of soil. The present study investigates the effect of NRL treatment on swelling and compressibility characteristics of three soils of different plasticities by conducting oedometer tests. Untreated and NRL-treated samples of the selected soils were prepared with the same soil dry density. For preparing treated samples, in place of water, NRL was added to soil. The results of one-dimensional swelling-compression tests demonstrated that in low and medium plastic soils, NRL treatment increased the swelling potential marginally, whereas it considerably reduced the swelling in the high plastic soil, which is expansive in nature. NRL did not cause any changes in the swelling pressure of medium plastic soil. At the same time, it brought about a considerable drop in the swelling pressure of high plastic soil. In the consolidation tests, a decrease in compressibility, quantified in terms of compression index, was observed in all soils after NRL treatment. The resilient nature of rubber content caused an increase in the recompression index in all treated samples. A reduction in the coefficient of consolidation was observed in NRL-treated soils. The study concludes that despite the high deformability of rubber, NRL treatment does not negatively affect the swell-compression behaviour of soils. Besides, the treatment effectively controls the swelling and compression of highly compressible soil.

This study explores the efficacy of Natural Rubber Latex (NRL) as an additive in enhancing the mechanical properties and durability of cement-stabilized Recycled Concrete Aggregate (RCA) and Lateritic Soil (LS) blends for pavement applications. The research focused on determining the optimal NRL content and evaluating the performance of the stabilized blends under environmental stress represented by wetting-drying (w-d) cycles. Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) and Indirect Tensile Strength (ITS) tests were conducted alongside Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to assess the microstructural integrity of the materials. The results demonstrated that the inclusion of NRL at a 5% rubber-to-cement (r/c) ratio significantly improved the initial UCS, ITS, fatigue life, and durability performance of the RCA:LS blends. The 70:30 RCA:LS blend outperformed the 50:50 blend, indicating a composition-dependent response to NRL addition. The findings suggest NRL's potential in sustainable pavement construction, with implications for enhancing strength in stabilized pavement materials.