Chemical Treatments of Rice Husk Filler and Jute Fiber for the Use in Green Composites

The development of green composites using different natural fiber reinforcements is an area of active research to reduce the environmental footprint. These composites have serious limitations with high water absorption and reduced mechanical strength. The objective of this work is to develop polymeric green composite form natural reinforcements jute and rice husk, with improved water resistance and flexural characteristics. Rice husk and jute mat were chemically treated with acrylic acid and sodium hydroxide. The effective treatment conditions such as treatment temperature, time and concentration of the chemical to minimize water absorption, were determined. The effective acrylic acid concentration, temperature and time for acrylic treatment process were 10 volume percent, 60 degrees C and 4 hours for rice husk and 10 volume percent, 90 degrees C and 6 hours for jute mat respectively. The flexural properties were also reported for the composites. The surface chemistry, surface morphology and composition (hydroxyl, cellulose and hemicelluloses content) of the treated and untreated natural reinforcements were also analysed. It was observed that the acrylic treatment reduced the water absorption of the composites significantly with marginal reduction on mechanical property. Alkali treatment (using sodium hydroxide) improved the flexural strength of the rice husk reinforced composite, however it exhibits an adverse effect on water resistance properties.