Rapra sponsors latex conference.

Latex 2006, the Fourth International Conference on Latex and Latex-Based Products, organized by Rapra Technology Ltd., will be held January 24-25 at the Holiday Inn in Frankfurt, Germany.

Latex materials are currently said to be undergoing extensive research and development, and application areas are expanding. There is said to be the perennial issue of allergy to proteins in natural rubber to consider, and the ever-changing regulations on chemicals in the European Union, which are said to affect the compounding industry. This conference covers both synthetic and natural rubber latex materials and additives, quality and testing, applications and markets.

Improvements are said to have been made to enhance the safety of natural latexes, both by reducing the protein content and altering compounding ingredients. Presentations will be included from Yulex and Vystar on low protein materials, and R.T. Vanderbilt will give a talk about new curing systems to minimize nitrosamine formation.

Nanocomposites are said to be a hot topic in all fields at the moment, and there will be several papers on this subject. The Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia will talk about the effects on latex properties of incorporating nanofillers, and Professor Zhang of the Beijing University of Chemical Technology will present his work on preparing latex nanocomposites.

Compounding of latex will be discussed, including antimicrobial systems. Professor Magaraphan from Thailand will demonstrate the effects of fillers on latex surface properties. SSL International will give an overview of compounding.

Quality control is said to be an important factor in manufacturing today. TF Instruments will present a talk on latex quality control, and Dr. Steffen Bodemeier will talk about testing condoms. SMTL has been testing medical gloves for over 20 years and will give an overview of their findings. Staple-ford Scientific Services will talk about the shelf-life of latex medical products. Isotron will present information on effective sterilization.

New applications for latex will be presented. Rapra has worked on an absorbent material, while Revertex has developed latex for asphalt applications on road surfaces.

This event will bring together manufacturers, technologists and researchers with a common interest in latex applications and technology.

Session 1 on innovations in natural latex will include the following presentations: "Commercialization of guayule latex," Katrina Cornish, Jali Williams and Jeffrey A. Martin, Yulex; and Horst Sakreida and Thomas Marsh, Centrotrade Rubber; "Chemical and physical properties of a new, low antigenic protein natural rubber latex," Travis Honeycutt, William Doyle, Viktor Sharivker, Simon Sharivker and Vladimir Blinov, Vystar; "Special natural rubber latices for novel applications," Swee Hua Tan and Chee Mun Lau, Getahindus Sdn. Bhd., Malaysia; "Current concept of preventing occupational allergies to natural rubber latex in Germany," Henning Allmers, University of Osnabrueck, Jorg Schmengler, Praventionsdienst der Berufsgenossenschaft fur Gesundheitsdienst und Wohlfahrtspfleg, Germany; and "Quality control of natural latex: From empericism to quantification," Daniel Gau and T. Stromer, TF Instruments GmbH, Germany.

Session 2 on novel applications of latex will include the following presentations: "The use of natural rubber latex in modified asphalt road binders in the U.K.," Colin Ruggles, Revertex Malaysia, U.K.; and "A novel absorbent material," Martin Forrest, Rapra Technology Ltd., U.K.

Session 3 on compounding latex will include the following presentations: "Compounding--the key to quality in manufacturing?" David Hill, SSL International Ltd., U.K.; "The use of organic peroxides in open air systems to cure latex articles," Carrie Webster and Christopher Nola, R.T. Vanderbilt; "Additives for antimicrobial latexes and biofilm resistant materials," Svoboda Tabakova, Vera Mircheva and Nadejda Assenova, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria; and "Effect of fillers on the surface properties of NR and DPNR sheets,"

Jaruwat Khamsook and Rathanawan Magaraphan, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.

Session 4 on medical applications of latex will include the following presentations: "Latex medical gloves--has quality improved over the last 20 years?" Peter Phillips, Surgical Material Testing Laboratory, U.K.; "Sterilization options and issues," John Woolston, Isotron plc, U.K.; "Estimating shelf life of medical products made from natural and synthetic rubber latex," Bill Potter, Stapleford Scientific Services, U.K.; and "Condoms--trends in safety and testing," Steffen Bodemeier, CPR Produktions--und Vertriebs GmbH, Germany.

Session 5 on advances in synthetic latex will include the following presentations: "Crosslinking in carboxylated nitrile rubber dipped films," Andrew Kells and Robert Groves, Synthomer Ltd., U.K.; "Acceleration of synthetic polyisoprene latices," Dr. Chakraborty and Roger Couchman, Robinson Brothers, U.K.; and "Possibilities for synthetic latex," Stuart Potter, Vita Liquid Polymers Ltd., U.K.

Session 6 on latex nanocomposites will include the following presentations: "Effect of nano-sized fillers on prevulcanized natural rubber latex film properties," Surwati Awang, K. Vivaygananthan, Shamsul Bahri and M.Y. Amir Hashim, Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia; "A universal preparation method for rubber nano-composites--latex compounding method," You-Ping Wu, Yi-Qing Wang, Ming Tian and Li-Qun Zhang, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, China; and "Improvements in physical properties of layered silicate-reinforced natural rubber and carboxylated styrene butadiene rubber latexes and their blends," Stephen Ranimal and Sabu Thomas, Mahatma Gandhi University, India.

A tabletop exhibition will be included in this conference. Further information is available from Sharon Garrington, tel.: [phone]; fax: [phone].