Mechanical properties of rice husk biochar reinforced high density polyethylene composites

Abstract

Rice husk biochar was utilized to reinforce high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and to prepare biochar/plastic composites (BPC) by the extrusion method. Morphologies, non-isothermal crystallization behavior, and mechanical properties of the composites were investigated. The SEM (scanning electron microscope) showed that HDPE was embedded into the holes of the rice husk biochar. The DSC (differential scanning calorimeter) showed that biochar could reduce the crystallization rate and the higher the content of rice husk biochar, the slower the crystallization rate. Significantly, the bending and tensile strength of BPC could reach 53.7 and 20 MPa, far beyond WPC (wood plastic composites). With the increase of filler content, BPC were still stronger than WPC, although the impact strength of BPC and WPC all showed a general decline in the trend. The strong interaction was achieved by the utilization of rice husk biochar to reinforce HDPE.