The results obtained from dynamic mechanical analysis (Fig s. 1 and 2) showed that both the content and particle size of rice husk fiber affected the gelation temperature of the composite system. However, the effect of particle size was more significant. The same gelation temperature was selected for composites with the same rice husk fiber size to simplify
the processing procedure. The temperatures corresponding to the maximum values of tan δ were 140°C for MF-PP/RH
composites with 20-60 mesh rice husk powder
, 150
°
C
for MF
-
PP/RH
composites with 60
-
90 mesh
rice husk powder
,
and 165
°
C
for MF
-
PP/RH
composites with 120
-
200 mesh rice husk powder
.
The curing time
s
of
composit
e
s
with different p
article size
s
and blend ratio
s
w
ere
measured by the isothermal
DMA method
. The isothermal cur
ing
temperature was set
at
the temperature
where
the
gelation
point
was
measured. The results
for
the
curing time
s
a
re listed in Table 2.