Recycling rice hull ash: A filler material for polymeric composites?

Abstract

Born more out of necessity, the "awareness-attitude" of our society has caused the channeling of technological developments toward immediate economic and ecological benefits. The polymer industry has a newfound interest in fillers from industrial by-products and other waste materials having potential "recyclability." This new class of fillers includes fillers from natural sources (e.g., natural fibers), industrial by-products (e.g., saw dust, rice husks), and a recent entry in the form of rice husk ash-an industrial waste material-obtained by burning rice husks. Their recyclability and utilization has become a major driving factor in their acceptance and employability, as well as low cost and abundant availability. However, their performance in composites and processing requirements has hindered their applicability within the current economic framework. The present article reviews the performance of rice husk ash, or silica ash, in polymeric composites. Silica ash, composed mainly of silica, is obtained after burning rice husks and is a major industrial waste material in rice growing countries. Optimism surrounds the application of silica ash as a potential filler in a variety of polymeric composites, however, its performance has been limited by its inherent characteristics. This paper emphasizes the need for better characterization of silica ash to obtain an in-depth understanding of its behaviour with the view to identifying suitable modifications to improve its performance as a filler. It is emphasized that poor understanding of silica ash as a

Understanding polymeric amylose retrogradation in presence of additives

“…31,32 Such structures are then able to absorb external stresses and achieve greater deformation. 33 This microstructure can be visualized not as a fixed unit but as a quasi-unit, continuously changing the amount of starch-water-additive within its boundaries as it reacts to external stresses.…”

Hydrophobic Polymers from Food Waste: Resources and Synthesis

“…252 As another example, rice-hull is being used as a filler material for polymer composites. 253 Rice hulls were identified as a source of silicon carbide in 1975 and so contribute to the production of ceramic materials as well as polymer composites. 254 They have been used to generate materials with polyvinyl chloride (PVC), 255 PLA, 256 polypropylene (PP), 257 polyethylene (PE), 258 and high density polyethylene (HDPE).…”

Investigation of the effect of rice husk derived Si/SiC on the morphology and thermal stability of carbon composite aerogels

“…Considering the high amount of porous silica in rice husk (RH) and rice husk ash (RHA) structure, this residue has been considered as cheap raw source of silica in various industries [14][15][16][17][18]. Since RHA actually consists of silica (variable from 60% to 80%), it is resistant to thermal shocks (higher than 600°C) and has a low weight loss in the air atmosphere [17,18].…”