Improvement of hydrophilic property of rubber dipping former surface with Ni/B/TiO2 nano-composite film

The objective of this study is to explore a method to improve hydrophilicity of the surface of formers that could be more easily dipped to produce high quality dipped rubber products. Photocatalytic TiO2 composite films were prepared by sol–gel method. Glass formers were coated with the Ni/B/TiO2 nano-composite film by dipping method and annealed at 400 °C for 1 h. Phase formation of TiO2 was characterized by XRD. Morphology of the TiO2 films was observed by using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Optical absorption of the films and degradation concentration of methylene blue had been measured employing UV–vis spectrophotometer. The hydrophilicity of the thin films was determined in terms of the contact angles of water and NR rubber latex droplets on the coated TiO2 composite films with and without UV irradiation. It was found from the experimental study that the Ni/B/TiO2 nano-composite film can improve wet-ability of the coated former surfaces, leading to enhancement of tensile strengths of the vulcanized natural rubber (NR) latex films.