Flexural Properties of Rice Straw and Starch Composites

The main goal of this work was to use rice straw (RS) in the production of environmentally sound composites using corn based adhesives (CA). Treatments of RS with NaOH and hot-water were undertaken to evaluate the effect of such treatments on the performance of produced composites. The influence of composite density, starch content and varieties of starch (cornstarch, cassava starch, potato starch) on flexural properties of composites was investigated. The microstructure of fractured surfaces was further observed. Results showed that cornstarch based composites had higher flexural properties. Composites made from hot-water treated straw and cornstarch had better interface and higher flexural properties, and flexural strength and flexural elastic modulus reached peak values at starch content of 10% and composite density of 0.7 g/cm3. The composites developed from this work may have potential application for ceiling panels and bulletin boards.