Benzylation of Rice Husk and Investigation of Its Composites with Poly Styrene and Poly Caprolactone

Biodegradable composites are prepared by mixing of benzylated rice husk، poly styrene and e-caprolactone. At the first step of this investigation، rice husk as a cheap and natural material was modified with benzylation reaction and samples was studied by FT-IR spectra. A good reaction between benzyl groups of benzyl chloride and hydroxyl groups of rice husk is observed from FT-IR spectra. The ThermoGravimetery Analysis (TGA) showed that the benzylated rice husk has a more thermal stability than rice husk. At the next step، benzylated rice husk with different percentages added to polystyrene and polycaprolactonein chloroform، and the polymeric films were prepared with solvent evaporation. Mechanical properties of these films were measured by the tensile test. The mechanical properties of samples were improved by addition of 10-40 percent of benzylated rice husk.