Abstract
Biodegradable packaging is gaining much attention in food industry as the awareness on sustainability has increased. Thermoplastic starch is a possible alternative. This study evaluated the influence of malic acid (MA) and citric acid (CA), used as a plasticizer, on the mechanical properties of thermoplastic starch (TPS) obtained by spray drying. TPS powder was produced from solution spray drying. This powder was further compression molded to prepare TPS dog-bone test samples. X-ray Diffraction (XRD) results showed that both the spray dried TPS powder and dog-bone test samples were amorphous in nature irrespective of the amount of plasticizer added. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to examine the morphology of solution spray dried TPS powder. No noticeable difference was observed in the morphology. Particles were spherical in shape with homogenous surface. The FT-IR analysis indicated the interaction of plasticizers with starch chains by hydrogen bonding. During TGA analysis, apart from moisture loss at 100 °C, samples were thermally stable up to 170 °C. Mechanical testing of TPS dog-bone revealed that sample containing malic acid as plasticizer exhibited a more elastic behavior as compared to citric acid plasticized formulations. It was revealed that the tensile strength of TPS dog-bone samples was inversely proportional to the quantity of plasticizer used.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 64-73 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Fibers and Polymers |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1 Jan 2017 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2017, The Korean Fiber Society and Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.
Keywords
- Biodegradable polymers
- Mechanical strength
- Plasticizers
- Spray drying
- Thermoplastic starches
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Chemistry
- General Chemical Engineering
- Polymers and Plastics