Thermogravimetric analysis of rice husk flour filled thermoplastic polymer composites

The thermal degradation and thermal stability of rice husk flour (RHF) filled polypropylene (PP) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) composites in a nitrogen atmosphere were studied using thermogravimetric analysis. The thermal stability of pure PP and HDPE was found to be higher than that of wood flour (WF) and RHF. As the content of RHF increased, the thermal stability of the composites decreased and the ash content increased. The activation energy of the RHF filled PP composites increased slowly in the initial stage until α=0.3 (30% of thermal degradation region) and thereafter remained almost constant, whereas that of the RHF filled HDPE composites decreased at between 30 and 40 mass% of RHF content. The activation energy of the composites was found to depend on the dispersion and interfacial adhesion of RHF in the PP and HDPE matrix polymers. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.