Mechanical properties and thermal stability of rice husk ash filled epoxy foams

P. M. STEFANI; V.P.CYRAS; A. TEJEIRA BARCHI; A. VÁZQUEZ

JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE

John Wiley and Sons, Ltd

Lugar: New York; Año: 2006 vol. 99 p. 2957 - 2965

0021-8995

Mechanical properties and thermal stability of epoxy foams filled with white and black rice husk ash were studied. Epoxy foams were prepared from a commercial system and filled with different amounts of both ashes (0, 6.8, 12.8, 18.8 and 22.7 wt%). The incorporation of both ashes modified the final morphology of the foam, decreasing the average cell size and increasing the number of cells per volume unit. For all filler percentages used, the specific modulus and strength results showed that the white ash is more effective as reinforcing agent than the black ash. The initial degradation temperature (IDT) was not affected by the content and type of ash used as filler. The integral procedure decomposition temperature (IPDT), weight loss and char residue results were related to the ash type and atmosphere used in the thermogravimetric analysis.