WORCESTER, Mass./AKRON, Ohio — August 8, 2019 — Vystar Corp. announced advances in ultra-low protein natural rubber latex relating to performance improvements, new applications and formulations, and improved eco-friendliness at the International Latex Conference (ILC) in Akron, Ohio this week. Dr. Ranjit K. Matthan, a latex and rubber science expert, a member of Vystar’s Board of Directors and Vystar R&D head for Vytex® rubber latex for commercial raw materials, shared details in a presentation titled “Ultra Low Protein Natural Rubber Latex – A Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber Intermediates, Bioelastoplastics and Products,” which will soon be available through the ILC 2019 Conference and Vystar websites.
Dr. Matthan stated, “Through our continuing targeted research, we are capitalizing on the patented Vytex process to remove proteins and non-rubbers from rubber and latex to create environmentally friendly raw materials with improved characteristics for strength, durability, flexibility, and resilience that may be able to provide a reduced carbon footprint alternative to some synthetic fossil fuel-based polymers that are less environmentally friendly in the manufacturing and end use lifecycle. Vystar will engage and support industry partners to customize products to their requirements.”
Advances In Bioelastoplastics — Bioelastoplastics produced from Vytex latex with customized viscoelastic behavior (elasticity and plasticity) enable enhanced performance in a range of static and dynamic mode applications. Vytex latex is available in high/low/no ammonia and low/no nitrosamine formulations and offers cleaner and purer latices and rubbers that enable higher performance materials as follows:
Improved ultra-thin film applications enabled by Low Gel Content Latices with reduced hardening. Vytex’s removal of the proteins and reduction of the non-rubber constituents has been found to inhibit the gel formation in latices which causes undesirable hardening akin to storage hardening in dry rubber.
Cost-Effective Alternative Bioelastoplastics — Modifications of the Vytex latex prior to concentration creates cost-effective alternative bioelastoplast materials including grafted, epoxidized, depolymerized, and halogenated variants.
Reduce Carbon Black with nanotubes — Incorporating Single Walled Carbon Nano Tubes (SWCNT) at the latex stage allows for reducing carbon black usage for better eco-friendliness.
TEST RESULTS
Protein removal – now reduces the antigenic allergenic proteins to nanogram levels — <0.5-1.0 ug/g
Nitrosamine reduction – Vytex nitrosamine free (NF) Latex samples demonstrated Migratable N-nitrosamines were reduced to <0-.01 mg/kg, exceeding the passable rate of 0.05 mg/kg. Migratable N-nitrosatable substances were reduced to <0.01 also within the 1.0 mg/kg pass rate for Nitrosamine-free latex and products.
Vytex latex based products passed certification tests for the detection of volatile or harmful substances and are certified that Vytex natural latex foam is safe for use even for children.
“Dr. Matthan’s out-of-the-box thinking is taking rubber in a whole new direction to potentially solve some of the major challenges facing the rubber and plastics industries, such as sustainability and recyclability throughout the manufacturing process and product lifecycle,” noted William Doyle, Vystar R&D Consultant and co-author of the Vystar presentation at the ILC. “These developments are in tune with the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR) that targets improvement of the socioeconomic and environmental performance of the Natural Rubber Value Chain. This has the potential to accelerate growth for the entire rubber and latex market.”
Dr. Matthan added, “With continued global consumption increases, plus a growing demand to find sustainable, recyclable and more environmentally friendly replacements for plastics, we believe these new advances will garner strong interest from the rubber manufacturing industry. Globally consumption of latex and natural rubber (NR) has had a compound annual growth rate of 5.27% and 3.86% respectively over the past five years, with Asian NR consumption growth averaging 6.35% per year.”
NEW USES OF VYTEX:
The Vytex deproteinization process, originally used for latex, is now being used to develop specialty solid (non-latex) rubber, resulting in a stronger and more durable solid rubber. This will offer new and potentially superior options for tires, plasticizers and binders, marine paint, rubber-to-metal bonding components, iodinated natural rubber conductive sheets, brominated natural rubber glossy surface finishes, thin films and sheets, certain clear plastic films, rubber resin for bonding and stiffener applications, elastic bands, medical grade rubber sheeting, anti-static sheeting, industrial sheeting, gaskets/O-ring/seals, footwear soles, vibration dampening pads and more. It also offers opportunities for grafts with other polymerizable materials to enable greater compatibility. Under Dr. Matthan’s direction Vystar’s R&D team is working with several manufacturers and associations to develop formulations for specific applications.
Traditional Uses of Vytex: Competitively priced against traditional latex, Vytex is a superior material and adaptable for use in more than 10,000 applications that typically use petrochemical based materials.
Vytex is sustainably sourced, in sharp contrast to petrochemical-based synthetic latex or petrochemical-based foam, synthetic latex and plastic products. In addition to removing proteins, the Vytex deproteinization process removes the source of the latex odor and improves the color, making Vytex eco-friendlier with reduced need for the hot and cold water rinses to remove undesirable residual materials.
BIOELASTOPLAST MATERIALS – A class of materials derived principally from Natural Rubber (Hevea Brasiliensis) which are physico-chemical modified at pre- or post-centrifuged stage of latex processing, such that its modified viscoelastic behavior(i.e. elasticity and plasticity) enables it application in a wider range of static and dynamic mode applications. Materials are made available either in the latex or solid form. The starting point for these is deproteinized (ultra-low protein) field latex which is a cleaner and purer latex.
Posted August 8, 2019
Source: Vystar® Corp.
