Effect of filler loading and size on the mechanical and morphological behaviour of natural fibre-reinforced polystyrene composites

Due to ever increasing use of polymer composites and rising environmental concerns throughout the world, greater attention is being paid to the incorporation of lingo-cellulosic materials as filler in polymer matrices instead of synthetic materials in the field of aerospace and automobile industry. In this work, polystyrene composites using wheat husk, rice husk and mustard husk as fillers are synthesised using in-situ polymerisation technique. Three different filler loading (5, 10 and 15 %) and three different filler sizes (250-355 mu, 355-500 mu, 500-710 mu) were utilised for the studying the effect of these compositions on different mechanical properties of the synthesised composites. The results have shown that the filler size 250-355 mu and 5% loading give the maximum values for tensile strength, flexural strength and hardness for all the three types of fillers. While in case of water absorptivity the lower the size/loading, lesser would be the water absorbed. The SEM analysis is done to study the fractured surface of the specimen.