Impact of various surface modifications on agro waste rice husk and its reinforced polymer composites

Abstract Rice husk is agro waste and abundant in nature. Rice husk has a bulk amount of silica, cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. While making the composite with a polymer, the constituent material of rice husk makes a significant effect on various properties of composite. In this work we will observe the effect of various chemical treatments including acidic treatment, alkaline treatment and other treatments upon the morphological structure of the composite. We found that these treatments modified the surface morphology of this bio filler which improves the quality of composite formed. The modification in rice husk properties by these treatments creates a difference in the application of rice husk in various industrial and daily use applications. Alteration in properties of composite due to treatment and reinforcement could be analyzed with the help of various analytical techniques. The need of all these treatments is to create a suitable interphase between matrix and reinforcement.