Abstract
Microcrystalline zirconium phosphate was exfoliated by treatment with aqueous solutions of α,ω-alkylaminoalcohols and employed for the fabrication of potato starch composite membranes. Glycerol-based and glycerol-free composite membranes, containing 5 wt% of filler, were prepared from gelatinized starch and characterized for their physico-chemical properties. Despite of a partial filler reaggregation, as revealed by XRD and SEM analysis, all the composites exhibited a significant increase in the Young's modulus with respect to the glycerol-starch membrane, up to 80% and 190% for the glycerolbased and the glycerol-free composites, respectively. For both kinds of membranes the filler delays to a large extent the starch decomposition above about 300 °C. A significant reduction in the water uptake of the composites was also observed with respect to the neat glycerol-based membrane, up to about 70% for the glycerol-free composites.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 210-216 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Carbohydrate Polymers |
| Volume | 97 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 1 May 2013 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 14 Aug 2013 |
Bibliographical note
Acknowledgement:The authors wish to thank Novamont S.p.A. for financial support within the project “Studio, sperimentazione e realizzazione di innovativi nanocompositi plastici biodegradabili a base di olio vegetale e amido nanostrutturato con proprietà meccaniche e funzionali programmate, per la realizzazione di imballaggi ultrasottili” and Dr. Alessandro Di Michele of the LUNA Laboratory, at the Physics Department of Perugia University, for collecting SEM pictures.
Keywords
- Aminoalcohol
- Composite membrane
- Mechanical properties
- Starch
- Water uptake
- Zirconium phosphate