The present invention relates to the sector of the industry for extracting and processing natural rubber, and other components, from plant material. In particular, the invention relates to a process for extracting resin and rubber from guayule and/or guayule type plants, which comprises harvesting, preserving and mechanically and chemically treating the parts of the plant, applicable both in the laboratory and on an industrial scale, characterized by significantly high quantity yields and high quality of the extracted products.

This application relates to elastomeric articles such as gloves, compositions for producing the articles and methods for their manufacture. The elastomeric articles contain particles for detectability of the articles (or portions thereof) by metal detectors and/or x-ray detectors. The articles may contain two different types of particlesone particle type is selected from magnetic particles, highly conductive particles or a combination, and the second particle type is particles containing one or more high atomic mass elements (with an atomic mass of at least 132). The particles may be coated by a corrosion inhibitor coating, or they may be uncoated. The compositions for producing the articles may contain a viscosity modifier.

Disclosed herein are polysaccharide-elastomer masterbatch compositions and processes for preparing the masterbatch compositions. One method comprises a step of a) mixing i) an aqueous polysaccharide dispersion, or ii) a basic aqueous polysaccharide solution, with a rubber latex solution containing a rubber component to form a mixture. The method further comprises the steps of: b) coagulating the mixture obtained in step a) to produce a coagulated mass; and c) drying the coagulated mass obtained in step b). The masterbatch compositions are useful in preparing rubber-containing articles.

A masterbatch manufacturing method in accordance with the present disclosure comprises an operation in which pre-coagulation rubber latex comprising filler is coagulated to obtain a coagulum; an operation in which the coagulum is dewatered; and an operation in which the dewatered coagulum is plasticized as it is dried by means of an extruder; wherein, during the operation in which the dewatered coagulum is plasticized as it is dried, the coagulum comprises a peptizing agent.

Medical radiation attenuation thin films, methods of making the same, and articles such as gloves made therefrom, are disclosed. The thin films utilize guayule natural rubber, sulfur and an attenuation filler such as Bi.sub.2O.sub.3. The films mix the guayule natural rubber, sulfur and attenuation filler and cure the mixture at about 80 to about 105 C. for about 40 to about 90 minutes.

The invention provides a novel hydrophilic polymer and latex polymer blend coating formulation and compositions thereof, and their use on various devices (e.g., prophylactic and medical devices) to form hydrophilic and flexible coatings with durable lubricity.

A method for manufacturing wet rubber masterbatch obtained from raw materials in the form of at least filler, dispersion solvent, and rubber latex solution, includes an operation in which the rubber latex solution is mixed and coagulated with a slurry solution containing the filler and the dispersion solvent to manufacture a filler-containing rubber coagulum; and a heating operation in which a single-screw extruder is used to carry out dewatering, drying, and plasticization of the filler-containing rubber coagulum in a single operation. The method satisfies conditions: 0.02C/(AB)0.15, where A indicates, for a portion of the screw which is located at the dewatering portion, the pitch volume (mm.sup.3), B indicates rotational speed (rpm) of the screw, and C indicates feed volume per minute (mm.sup.3/min) of the filler-containing rubber coagulum which is fed into the single-screw extruder.

The present invention relates to the industrial sector of extracting and processing natural rubber, and other components, from plant material. In particular, the invention relates to a process for extracting latex, resin and rubber from guayule and/or guayule-type plants, which comprises harvest, preservation, mechanical and chemical treatment of the plant parts, which is applicable both in the laboratory and on an industrial scale and is characterised by significantly high yields and high quality of the extracted products.

A rubber composition for vibrationproof rubber that comprises a natural rubber wet masterbatch comprising one or more natural rubbers and one or more carbon blacks in an amount of 5 to 100 parts by mass for 100 parts by mass of the natural rubber(s), and the rubber composition comprising a compound represented by the following formula (I) in an amount of 0.1 to 5 parts by mass when a total amount of one or more rubber components that is/comprise the natural rubber(s) is regarded as 100 parts by mass:

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in which R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 each represent a hydrogen atom, and an alkyl group, alkenyl group or alkynyl group that has 1 to 20 carbon atoms and R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 may be the same as or different from each other, and M.sup.+ represents a sodium ion, potassium ion or lithium ion.

A method for producing a rubber wet masterbatch comprises a step (i) of dispersing an inorganic filler into a dispersing solvent in the presence of a cellulose fiber to produce a slurry solution, a step (ii) of mixing the slurry solution and a rubber latex solution with each other to produce a slurry-containing rubber latex solution, and a step (iii) of solidifying and drying the slurry-containing rubber latex solution to produce the rubber wet masterbatch. The cellulose fiber has an average fiber diameter less than 1000 nm. When an amount of solid in the rubber latex solution blended in the step (ii) is regarded as 100 parts by mass, a blend amount of the cellulose fiber is from 0.1 to 50 parts by mass.