Effects of Rice Husk (RH) Particle Size, Glass Fiber (GF) Length, RH/GF Ratio, and Addition of Coupling Agent on the Mechanical and Physical Properties of Polypropylene-RH-GF Hybrid Composites

Polypropylene (PP) hybrid composites based on rice husk (RH) with different particle size and glass fiber (GF) with different length were prepared. The composites were subjected to mechanical and water immersion tests. From the results obtained, it was found that the mechanical properties of the hybrid composites were strongly dependent on the size of RH particle and length of GF. It could be further enhanced with the presence of coupling agent. In this study, two types of coupling agents, i.e., Epolene E-43 (E-43) and 3-(trimethoxysilyl)-propylmethacrylate (TPM), were employed. In general, E-43 imparted significant improvement in the mechanical properties. From the water immersion results, it was found that the hydrophobicity of the composites was increased with the presence of coupling agent. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 115:3456-3462, 2010