Abstract
Composite materials were obtained by filling polypropene with raw and thermally treated rice husks at filler contents from 1 to 20%. The physicochemical properties were determined. A slight increase was observed in the tensile strength of the composites based on white rice husk ash (WRHA) and aerosil (AR) at degree of filling up to 3%. Young's modulus increased and the elongation at break and energy to break point showed a tendency to decrease for all the composites studied. The thermodynamics and kinetics of water absorption at immersion were studied in the temperature interval 25–90°C. The values of the changes in standard free energy, ΔG°, enthalpy, ΔH°, and entropy, ΔS° of adsorption were calculated. Water absorption was found to be thermodynamically difficult due to the diffusion mechanism of the process and it was accompanied by a decrease in the values of ΔH° and ΔS° with an increase in fillers contents. The effects of the amount of absorbed water, temperature, and treatment time on the composites tensile properties were estimated.