With increased awareness on the importance
of gloves arising from
the COVID-19 pandemic, people are expected to continue using them
even after the pandemic recedes. This scenario in a way increased
the rubber solid waste disposal problem; therefore, the production
of biodegradable gloves may be an option to overcome this problem.
However, the need to study the shelf life of biodegradable gloves
is crucial before commercialization. There are well-established models
to address the failure properties of gloves as stated in the American
Society for Testing and Material (ASTM) D7160. In this study, polysaccharide-based
material-filled natural rubber latex (PFNRL) gloves, which are biodegradable
gloves, were subjected to an accelerated aging process at different
temperatures of 50–80 °C for 1–120 days. Prediction
models based on Arrhenius and shift factors were used to estimate
the shelf life of the PFNRL gloves. Based on the results obtained,
the estimated time for the PFNRL gloves to retain 75% of their tensile
strength at shelf temperature (30 °C) based on Arrhenius and
shift factor models was 2.8 years. Verification on the activation
energy based on the shift factor model indicated that the shelf life
of PFNRL gloves is 2.9 years, which is only a 3.6% difference. The
value obtained is aligned with the requirement in accordance with
ASTM D7160, which states that only up to a maximum of 3 years’
shelf life is allowed for the gloves under accelerated aging conditions.