Use of vegetative material as a filler in composite materials

Abstract

The present invention provides a filler for use in composite materials wherein said filler comprises a vegetative-based material and wherein said vegetative-based material can be fresh or carbonised. In one particularly preferred embodiment the present invention utilises carbonised rice husk. In a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a process for the production of a carbonised vegetative-based filler wherein said process comprises burning a fresh vegetative-based material at about 800° C. for about 4 seconds.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a divisional application of U.S. application Ser. No. 09 / 889,610, entitled “Use of Vegetative Material as a Filler in Composite Materials”, filed Jan. 8, 2002, which is a continuation application of PCT / AU00 / 00018, filed Jan. 17, 2000 which published as WO 00 / 42116, which claims priority to AU PP 8198 filed Jan. 18, 1999, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.TECHNICAL FIELD [0002] This invention relates to the use of a filler derived from cereal husk, more particularly rice husk, in composite materials to enhance the flame retardant, antistatic, accelerator, plasticiser and blowing characteristics in various composite materials. The invention has particular but not exclusive application to the following families of composites:—[0003] 1. Thermoplastic Resins [0004] 2. Thermoset Plastics [0005] 3. Rubbers and Elastomeric Materials [0006] 4. Conductive Coatings and Printing Inks [0007] 5. Bitumen [0008] 6. C...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0043] Ebonite, a hard, dark-coloured plastic-like material, is the reaction product of rubber and a large proportion of sulphur. Simple rubber / sulphur mixtures are seldom used in practice; they suffer from poor processability, require long cure times and lead to excessive shrinkage and heat evolution during cure. Accelerators, fillers, processing aids and other compounding ingredients are widely used in ebonite, as in soft rubber vulcanised rubber, to ease processing, shorten cure times and modify properties. The curing times for ebonite are generally up to ten (10) hours at 150° C., thus making ebonite products expensive. Ebonite can be made from synthetic, such as BR, NBR, SBR and Nitrile rubber and as well as from Natural rubber. High strength, low thermal conductivity, chemical resistance and insulating properties of natural rubber make it a popular choice. Although it has been superseded in many applications by synthetic thermoplastic and thermosets, it is still used for outstanding chemical resistance and electrical properties coupled with high mechanical strength and ease of machining.

[0044] The present invention exhibits the usage of fresh and carbonised rice as an accelerator when used in combination with recycled (devulcanised) or virgin natural rubber, and at the same time making ebonite a conductive product when carbonised rice husk is used. Though other conventional accelerators have been used with natural or synthetic rubber (virgin or recycled) to achieve the similar products but so far no accelerators like the rice husk material have been used with recycled (devulcanised) rubber to produce similar products. Further more the conventional accelerators and conductive carbon black are expensive and difficult to blend and process. When rice husk is used singularly at different dosages the activation effect is different to meet industrial requirements. Generally for ebonite production the sulphur content should be in the range of 25-40 phr, but whereas when fresh rice husk between 25-30 phr is used the sulphur content could be reduced to 20-25 phr. Accelerators are less effective in ebonite than in soft rubber and large quantities are generally required. Basic accelerators such as guanidines and aldehyde-amines are preferred. Inorganic activators such as magnesium oxide, magnesium carbonate and lime are also effective when used with organic accelerators to reduce cure time without the risk of over heating.

[0045] Common inorganic fillers used in ebonite are china clay, talc, silica, whiting and magnesium oxide. These also reduce shrinkage and heat evolution but loaded ebonite generally have weaker mechanical properties than unloaded ones. Carbon black does not reinforce ebonite and is normally only added for pigmentation, although conductive carbon black are sometimes used to prepare electrically conducting ebonite. Best Mode

Problems solved by technology

The presence of appreciable quantities of oxygen on the surface (called volatile content) acts as insulation and hence reduces conductivity.

The known conductive fillers such as carbon black, aluminium, stainless steel and carbon fibres are expensive and furthermore some of these materials have other processing difficulties, eg. aluminium fibres and stainless steel fibres settle in liquid environments due to their high density.

Further problems with known conductive fillers are that they often compromise other properties of composite plastics such as flame retardance and strength.

Static electrification of articles can lead to a number of undesirable effects including:

Risk of fire or explosion caused by sparking near inflammable liquids, gases, and explosive dusts, e.g. coal dust and flour.

Risk of shock to persons handling equipment.

For light coloured products certain grades of aluminium ‘silicate may be used as antistatic fillers although these are usually less effective in reducing resistance than the super conductive furnace.

There are also other proprietary antistatic agents that are available, such as ethylene oxide, but still these agents are less effective then the super conductive furnace.

The presence of appreciable quantities of oxygen on the surface of carbonised rice husk acts as insulation for each aggregate, thereby reducing the conductivity and also reducing the flammability.