Effects of rice straw fiber morphology and content on the mechanical and thermal properties of rice straw fiber-high density polyethylene composites

Rice straw fiber-high density polyethylene (HDPE) composites were prepared to investigate the effects of rice straw fiber morphology (rice straw refined fiber, rice straw pellet, rice straw strand), fiber content (20 and 40 wt %), and maleic anhydride polyethylene (MAPE) concentration (5 wt %) on the mechanical and thermal properties of the rice straw fiber-HDPE composites in this study. Rice straw refined fiber exhibited more variability in length and width, and have a higher aspect ratio of 16.3. Compared to the composites filled of rice straw pellet, the composites made of the refined fiber and strand had a slightly higher tensile strength and lower tensile elongation at break. The tensile and flexural strength of the composites increased slightly with increasing rice straw fiber content up to 40 wt %, while the tensile elongation at break decreased. With addition MAPE, the composites filled with 20 wt % rice straw fiber showed an increase in tensile, flexural and impact strength and a decrease in tensile elongation at break. Differential scanning calorimetry showed that the fiber addition and morphology had no appreciable effect on the crystallization temperature of the composites but decreased the crystallinity. The scanning electron microscopy observation on the fracture surface of the composites indicated that introduction of MAPE to the system resulted in promotion in fiber dispersion, and an increase in interfacial bonding strength. Fiber breakage occurred significantly in the composites filled with refined fiber and strand after extruding and injection processing.