Stiffness of Latex Medical Tubing

Manufacturer: We are manufacturing medical tubing based on natural rubber latex. We are required to increase the stiffness of the tubing without adding filler. Please advise us how we could achieve this.



John Woon (Senior Latex Consultant): You have to aim at having a tighter cure by increasing the levels of ZnO and sulphur. A combination of ZDEC and ZMBT would also increase the modulus and hence the stiffness.

If you need too achieve this without changing your existing curative recipe, you can look into the addition of synthetic latex such as high styrene SBR or MMA grafted latex.