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Thermal stability of unmodified and alkali-modified rice husks for flame retardant fiber-reinforced PLA composites

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Abstract

This work presents biochemical, physical and thermal properties of K85 and K98 rice husks species from Uganda before and after modification with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH)2). Modified and unmodified rice husks were analysed by SEM, TGA, Bomb calorimetry, XRF, Ultimate analysis, Bulk density, FTIR and Van Soest approach. SEM analysis disclosed that alkali pre-treatment of rice husks improves micro-structure. Generally, the husks had higher cellulose compositions than hemicellulose and lignin. High cellulose contents in reinforcement material decrease composites’ oxygen permeability and improve their mechanical properties. Physical properties confirmed that rice husks were characterized by more volatiles than ash, followed by fixed carbon and low moisture. XRF results indicate that the silica was the most dominant mineral in the unmodified K98 and K85 rice husk ashes. Peak temperatures of modified husks generally increased with increasing alkali concentrations, signalling increased thermal stability of PLA composites developed with these husks. The results suggest that modified rice husks are more preferred as reinforcement in flame retardant fiber-reinforced PLA composites to unmodified rice husks. FTIR revealed that the main functional groups were –COOH, signalling enhanced flame retardancy abilities in the rice husks.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Volkswagen Foundation under Grant No. 96655 entitled “Enhanced flame retardancy of bio-composite plastics developed with rice husks and clay fillers”. The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge Sinja Pagel, Dr.-Ing. Johannes Benz and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christian Bonten from Institut für Kunststofftechnik, University of Stuttgart, Germany, for generous efforts in reviewing and proof-reading this manuscript. Technical support from the Materials and Metallurgy Lab at Busitema University Tororo, Uganda is also acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

    Vianney Andrew Yiga, Michael Lubwama & Peter Wilberforce Olupot

  2. Africa Center of Excellence in Materials, Product Development and Nanotechnology, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

    Michael Lubwama

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  1. Vianney Andrew Yiga
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VAY: Conceptualization, Experimental design; Experimentation; Writing-original draft; Writing-review and editing. ML: Conceptualization, Writing-original draft, Writing-review and editing; Supervision, Fund acquisition. PWO: Methodology; Writing-review and editing; Investigation; Supervision.

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Yiga, V.A., Lubwama, M. & Olupot, P.W. Thermal stability of unmodified and alkali-modified rice husks for flame retardant fiber-reinforced PLA composites. J Therm Anal Calorim 147, 11049–11075 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-022-11311-w

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