Delamination Problem of Latex Dipped Products

Manufacturer: Our latex dipped products entail more than one latex dip. We occasionally encounter delamination problem that can result in a very high rejection rate. Can you please show us the major factors that could lead to delamination?

John Woon (Senior Latex Consultant): You could look into the following as a start:

1) Freshly gelled latex films gives better bonding than latex films that have been left to dry for some time.

2) Too high an ambient temperature or oven temperature would result in the latex film being too dry.

3) Non-rubbers either naturally occurring or from the dipping process such as the coagulant or added during compounding could migrate to the surface of the latex film which could interfere with proper film to film integration. The main culprit is the insoluble calcium soaps.

4) Too advanced a cure stage (too high a cross-linking density) could lead to poor coalescence of latex particles due to restriction of the mobility of the rubber molecules at the interface of the two latex films.