Abstract—This study involves the investigation of replacing chemical desiccants with natural fibers as a novel and sustainable alternative materials. In this study, the feasibility of using rice husk (RH) and its treated forms with alkali and acid solution and their blends as desiccant materials have been investigated. The bare RH, treated RH and the mixed materials have been characterized using FTIR, XRD, TGA, BET and SEM. The ability of water absorbance for the prepared samples has been compared at 28 ± 2 ºC. The elementary test of water absorbance was determined to be in the following order: acid treated RH >alkali treated RH > bare RH. The composite samples with higher percentage of acid treated RH showed higher water absorbance which is likely to be attributed to the porosity and improvement of adhesion properties (surface hydroxyl groups) in the prepared samples.
Index Terms—Chemical treatments, rice husk (RH), water absorption.
Zeynab Emdadi, Nilofar Asim, and K. Sopian are with the Solar Energy Research Institute, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia (e-mail: emdadi58@gmail.com, nilofarasim@ukm.edu.my, ksopian@vlsi.eng.ukm.my).
M. Ambar Yarmo is with School of Chemical Science & Food Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia (e-mail: ambar@pkrisc.cc.ukm.my).
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Cite: Zeynab Emdadi, Nilofar Asim, M. Ambar Yarmo, and K. Sopian, "Effect of Chemical Treatments on Rice Husk (RH) Water Absorption Property," International Journal of Chemical Engineering and Applications vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 273-276, 2015.
