Green method to reinforce natural rubber with tunicate cellulose nanocrystals via one-pot reaction

Tunicate cellulose nanocrystals (t-CNs) isolated from marine biomass were mixed with natural rubber (NR) via two different approaches. The first approach was the green one-pot route, NR latex was first mixed with t-CNs suspension, followed by epoxidization of the mixture. Meanwhile, a two-step method, referring to the way that NR latex was first epoxidized and then mixed with t-CNs suspension, was also carried out for comparison. The interfacial interaction, thermal performance, morphology, mechanical properties and water swelling behavior were investigated. Hydrogen bonds formed in the both nanocomposites and mechanical properties improved with increasing t-CNs content. Moreover, better dispersion and enhanced interfacial interaction were achieved for one-pot method, which was ascribed to the etching effect of hydrogen peroxide on the t-CNs surface and the possible grafting reaction during one-pot process. Therefore, compared with two-step method, 20% increase in tensile strength and 50% increase in tensile modulus were achieved for one-pot method at 10 phr t-CNs content.