Abstract
Blend of natural rubber (NR) latex with chloroprene (CR) latex and acrylonitrile-butadiene (NBR) latex with various ratios were carried out in dispersion forms, and films from latex blends were prepared by spin coating technique. Morphology of the resulting films was examined using Atomic Force Microscopy. For NR/CR blend, phase imaging shows higher phase shift in NR than that in CR. In contrast, higher phase shift was found in the AFM images of NR/NBR blend film. Force distance curves apparently confirm relative higher stiffness, corresponding to higher phase shift. All blend films were readily well-distributed. Further phase morphology of the blend films in each ratio is discussed. Interestingly, it was observed that, at the ratios up to 50: 50 by weight of NR/CR and NR/NBR, NR remains in the dispersed phase, i.e. CR and NBR were the continuous phase, which is totally different from structural formation observed for conventional melt blending.
