Biodegradable Composites Based on Thermoplastic Starch and Talc Nanoparticles

CASTILLO, L.; LÓPEZ, O.; GARCIA, M. A.; VILLAR, M.; BARBOSA, S.

Handbook of Composites from Renewable Materials

Scrivener Publishing - Wiley

Año: 2017; p. 23 - 60

Nowadays, technological interest is focused on a new generation of composite polymers basedon biodegradable matrixes from renewable raw materials with either organic or mineral fillers.These biocomposites have several advantages mainly due to their eco-friendly nature since theycan be naturally degraded plus their renewable origin. Among other biopolymers, starch is agood candidate because of its availability, biodegradability, and low cost. Naturally, starch isnot consideredas a thermoplastic polymer, but its processing with plasticizers, under hightemperatureand shear stresses, allows the disruption of its granular structure, becoming intothermoplastic starch (TPS). Main disadvantages of TPS materials are related to their poormechanical properties and moisture absorption. Addition of either natural fillers or mineralparticles to improve their final properties is an interesting alternative. In this sense, talc particlescan be used to reinforce starch matrices mainly due to their laminar morphology andnanometric thickness.The aim of this chapter comprises the development of starch-basedcomposites with talc nanoparticles. Well-dispersed and Well-distributed nanoparticles in TPSmatrix are obtained by direct melt mixing, and thus, nanocomposite TPS film properties wereimproved. These results are interpreted in terms of an accurate analysis of the processing?properties?structure relationship.