Caracterización de un material compuesto de polipropileno reforzado con cascarilla de arroz obtenido por extrusión

Abstract

In this research a biocomposite material was characterised due to the organic nature of the reinforcement, with a percentage by weight of 5,15 and 25 % of rice husk particles in a homopolymer polypropylene matrix. The development of the biocomposite begins with the acquisition of the raw material and then the obtaing of the reinforcement material by grinding and sifting the rice husk, in order to get particles of uniform size. The process used in the processing of the biocomposite is extrusion; in this stage, biocomposite pellets are manufactured with different compositions that may or may not include a compatibility agent. Injection moulding was used to manufacture the specimens used to carry out the material characterisation tests: mechanical (tensile, bending, IZOD impact and hardness), thermal characterisation (TGA), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and density determination. Finally, a comparative analysis is carried out between the biocomposite compositions obtained with respect to the matrix and the reinforcement. The influence of the reinforcement and the compatibility agent on the matrix is analyzed by means of FTIR values, graphs and spectroscopies. A comparison is also shown between the most representative biocomposite composition compared to other currently existing composite materials. It is concluded that the addition of compatibilizer in the biocomposite allows improving the values of tensile, flexural and impact resistance in specimens whose composition includes 25% reinforcement and 3% compatibilizer (MAPP). All of this research was carried out in laboratories belonging to the National Polytechnic School..