Effects Of Kenaf And Rice Husk On Water Absorption And Flexural Properties Of Kenaf/Caco3/Hdpe And Rice Husk/Caco3/Hdpe Hybrid Composites

Rice husk and kenaf filled with calcium carbonate<br> (CaCO3) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) composite were<br> prepared separately using twin-screw extruder at 50rpm. Different<br> filler loading up to 30 parts of rice husk particulate and kenaf fiber<br> were mixed with the fixed 30% amount of CaCO3 mineral filler to<br> produce rice husk/CaCO3/HDPE and kenaf/CaCO3/HDPE hybrid<br> composites. In this study, the effects of natural fiber for both rice<br> husk and kenaf in CaCO3/HDPE composite on physical, mechanical<br> and morphology properties were investigated. Field Emission<br> Scanning Microscope (FeSEM) was used to investigate the impact<br> fracture surfaces of the hybrid composite. The property analyses<br> showed that water absorption increased with the presence of kenaf<br> and rice husk fillers. Natural fibers in composite significantly<br> influence water absorption properties due to natural characters of<br> fibers which contain cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin structures.<br> The result showed that 10% of additional natural fibers into hybrid<br> composite had caused decreased flexural strength, however additional<br> of high natural fiber (&gt;10%) filler loading has proved to increase its<br> flexural strength.