The vulcanization (crosslinking) characteristics for natural rubber latex from Parthenium argentatum (guayule) are known to be different than those of Hevea brasiliensis or synthetic polyisoprene, and kinetics of the vulcanization reaction can significantly impact production. The dynamic mechanical properties before, during and after cure of films cast from latex were measured using an Advanced Polymer Analyzer (APA 2000). Comparison of uncompounded lattices show significant differences in the rheological behavior of the purified latex films. Curing characteristics as measured by the APA allows comparison of various approaches to cure package compounding.
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