Effect of compatibilizing agents on rice-husk flour reinforced polypropylene composites

The effect of compatibilizing agents on mechanical properties and morphology of a lignocellulosic material-thermoplastic polymer composite was examined. Using rice-husk flour as the reinforcing filler and polypropylene as the thermoplastic matrix polymer, a particle-reinforced composite was prepared, and its mechanical and morphological properties examined as a function of the amount of compatibilizing agent used. In the sample preparation, four levels of filler loading (10, 20, 30 and 40 wt%) and three levels of compatibilizing agent content (1, 3 and 5 wt%) were used, and in the tensile test, six test temperatures (-30, 0, 20, 50, 80 and 110 degrees C) and five crosshead speeds (2, 10, 100, 500 and 1500 mm/min) were used. The tensile strengths of the composites decreased as the filler loading increased, but the tensile properties were significantly improved with the addition of the compatibilizing agent. Both the notched and unnotched Izod impact strengths were almost the same with the addition of compatibilizing agent. A morphological study revealed that the positive effect of compatibilizing agent on interfacial bonding. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.