In order to overcome the emission of carcinogenic ‘polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon’ from aromatic oils, which are restricted in European countries since 2010, various efforts have been made to replace the aromatic oil in rubber-based compounds either fully or partially. Liquid isoprene rubber (LIR) was used as a reactive plasticizer in natural rubber (NR) compound at different loadings (2, 4, 6 and 8 phr) and its effect on viscosity, curing characteristics and physico-mechanical properties. The results were compared with those of the control compound containing conventional aromatic oil as plasticizer. The minimum torque for the control compound was 0.33 dNm and that for LIR based compounds ranged between 0.16 and 0.56 dNm. The LIR based compounds exhibited a slightly higher Mooney viscosity but offered the same scorch safety. The results support the utility of LIR as a promising alternative as revealed by the comparable rheological and physico-mechanical properties that are attained with the usage of appropriate quantity of LIR, unlike the other alternatives of the previous investigations that usually showed a difference in the properties.
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