13. The effects of fibre loadings on tensile, impact and flammability properties of rice husk/polyethylene composites

摘要

In this paper, the tensile, impact and flammability properties of thermoplastic composites manufactured from linear medium density polyethylene, rice husk (RH) were studied. Composites were manufactured with RH loading of 15 wt%, 30 wt% and 50 wt%, as well as 3 wt% of maleated polyethylene as the compatibiliser to investigate the effect of RH loading on the various properties of the composites. The results show that the tensile strength and modulus increased with an increase in the percentage of RH loading. On the other hand, the Charpy impact strength decreased with an increase of the RH percentage. Flammability studies using cone calorimeter and limited oxygen index show that the addition of RH in the composites can certain improve certain aspects of the composites’ fire behaviour, but without the addition of proper flame retardant(s), these materials cannot qualify to be fully fire proof.