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	Downstream Engineering & Product   Design Unit Advanced Rubber   Technology Unit Latex Science &   Technology Unit Upstream Crop Management Unit Crop Improvement and   Protection Unit Biotechnology Unit			Advanced Rubber Technology Unit Thermoplastic Natural Rubber (TPNR) Thermoplastic natural rubber (TPNR) is produced by blending natural rubber with polypropylene. R&D work to develop this material started as early as mid 1970s. Two types of TPNR were developed; one was partially vulcanised dynamically during blending whilst the other having no crosslinking of the rubber. The former with high natural rubber content is a softer product. It has the processing characteristics of a thermoplastic material and functional properties of a vulcanised rubber. Hence the material has to be processed using thermoplastic machinery and the final product obtained behaves like vulcanised rubber. Like any other thermoplastics, TPNR can be recycled. Potential applications of TPNR include weather seals for vehicles, window seals for buildings, automotive components such as bellows and grommet, and shoe soles. Farrel FTX Twin Screw Extruder The Farrel FTX Twin Screw Extruder (FTX 80) has been acquired recently and it has been designed to meet the needs of today’s compounders in TPR compounding and polymer masterbatching. The equipment is fitted with automatic feeding system and a pelletiser. Future development work on TPNR will be carried out using the FTX 80.   Typical Properties of TPNR Property   White Filled Black Filled Hardness (IRHD)   73 74 Tensile Strength (MPa) - along - across 6.84 7.19 7.41 6.97 M100 (MPa) - along - across 6.39 4.85 7.4 5.68 Elongation at break (%) - along - across 130 180 100 180
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