Thermomechanical Characterization of Rice Husk-Filled Carbon-Reinforced Hybrid Polymer Composites

Rice husk-filled polymer composites have important application in thermal insulation. But their low mechanical strength, such as tensile strength, flexural rigidity, shear strength, etc., makes their mechanical application limited. In this study, to increase the mechanical strength of rice husk-filled polymer composites, particulate carbon fiber is added by a hand lay-up process, and the result is called rice husk-filled carbon-reinforced hybrid polymer composites. In the first part of the study, the thermal conductivity of the composites at different percentages of rice husk with a fixed percentage of carbon (5 %) is analyzed by experimentation. It is observed that, up to 17 % of rice husk, the thermal insulating property increases and then decreases afterward. In the later part, the characterization of the mechanical properties of the developed composites at 17 % of rice husk with a fixed percentage of carbon (5 %) is done by conducting experiments, such as tensile tests, microhardness tests, and scanning electron microscopy analysis.