Microbial Degradation of Natural Rubber Vulcanizates
Akio Tsuchii
Tomoo Suzuki
Kiyoshi Takeda
Corresponding author.
Abstract
An actinomycete,Nocardia sp. strain 835A, grows well on unvulcanized natural rubber and synthetic isoprene rubber, but not on other types of synthetic rubber. Not only unvulcanized but also various kinds of vulcanized natural rubber products were more or less utilized by the organism as the sole source of carbon and energy. The thin film from a latex glove was rapidly degraded, and the weight loss reached 75% after a 2-week cultivation period. Oligomers with molecular weights from 104 to 103 were accumulated during microbial growth on the latex glove. The partially purified oligomers were examined by infrared and1H nuclear magnetic resonance and13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and the spectra were those expected ofcis-1, 4-polyisoprene with the structure, OHC—CH2—[—CH2—C(—CH3)=CH —CH2—]n—CH2—C(=O)— CH3, with average values ofn of about 114 and 19 for the two oligomers.
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Selected References
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