CHAPTER 11: Natural Rubber and Other Natural Polyisoprenes Occurring From Lattices

Natural rubber, the latex of the Hevea braziliensis tree, is a biopolymer par excellence and like few other plastics, is distributed and used throughout the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. Tyre production already absorbs 70% of the natural rubber supply, far ahead of other engineered rubber applications, latex uses, footwear, and adhesives. Natural rubber is supplied as latex, blocks of crepe sheets, or smoked balls. The poly(cis-1,4-isoprene) structure makes hevea suitable for modifications by cyclisation, ene reactions, halogenation, epoxidation, hydrogenation, or grafting. Used as a composite-like materials in many applications, the recycling of rubber is a necessary but also particularly challenging task. Besides Hevea brasiliensis some other mainly tropical plants supply a rubber-like latex product.