november

ArticlesFeatured

Post International Elastomer Conference Show Daily

This follow-up to the 2021 International Elastomer Conference and Expo, held last month in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and
published for the Rubber Division, ACS by Lippincott & Peto, Inc., includes photographs and summaries of IEC events, including the 2022 Science & Technology Award winners, Rubber Division, ACS
service award recipients, 2021 scholarship and Rubber Technology Training Award recipients, the Experience Elastomers
Student Outreach Program, the Rubber Division’s 2021-2023 Strategic Plan, the inaugural Rubber Chemistry & Technology Excellence Award and Expo exhibitors.

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ArticlesFeaturedLatex and Natural Rubber

Homegrown bioelastomers: A sustainable opportunity

It has been estimated that there are 2,500 plants that can produce a natural latex: a bioelastomer. Of course, not all of them can produce a polymeric latex with a high molecular weight, readily processable and commercially viable. To date, three species account for the majority of interest associated and centered
around the discussion of natural latex: Hevea rubber trees (Hevea brasiliensis), guayule (“why-yule-ee,” Parthenium argentatum) and rubber dandelion (Taraxacum kok-saghyz). The rubber tree, typically found in tropical Southeast Asia, produces nearly 90% of the world’s natural latex. Guayule (a desert shrub) and rubber dandelion are plants found in more temperate regions in the U.S., and figure to be potential domestic sources of natural rubber and latex.

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