Rice straw as an alternative reinforcement in polypropylene composites

We studied the use of rice straw as reinforcement in maleated polypropylene (PPm). Composites containing 20 and 30% by weight rice straw were successfully prepared by extrusion and compression molding. The samples were characterized by tensile tests, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetry (TGA), dynamo-mechanical analysis (DMTA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results of the mechanical properties showed that rice straw can be used as an alternative reinforcement for polypropylene. Higher tensile moduli (E) were obtained for composites containing higher rice straw content. Thermogravimetric curves of the composites exhibit two-stage decomposition process and slightly higher thermal stability. Higher crystallization (TC) and melting peak temperatures for composites were detected by DSC analysis (Tcpp = 107.8 °C, TcRS/PP(20/80) = 114.5 °C). The renewability of rice straw and the recyclability of thermoplastic polypropylene provide an attractive eco-fnendly quality to the resulting composites.