Preparation and Characterization Challenges in Hydroxylation of Neoprene Rubber

Abstract

Attempts for hydroxylation of the synthetic polychloroprene rubber (neoprene) were employed. In this paper, high concentrated aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide was used to introduce OH groups into liquid polychloroprene rubber via direct hydroxylation process at ambient conditions. Structure and composition of neoprene rubber before and after the hydroxylation process were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD)techniques. It is show that there are changes in crystallinity and agglomeration of rubber due to influence of the strong alkaline medium. Moreover, the morphological observations show that the modified neoprene layers more h