A Study of Specific Heat Capacity Functions of Polyvinyl Alcohol–Cassava Starch Blends

Abstract

The specific heat capacity (Csp) of polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) blends with cassava starch (CSS) was studied by the differential scanning calorimetry method. Specimens of PVOH–CSS blends: PPV37 (70 mass% CSS) and PPV46 (60 mass% CSS) were prepared by a melt blending method with glycerol added as a plasticizer. The results showed that the specific heat capacity of PPV37 and PPV46 at temperatures from 330 K to 530 K increased from (2.963 to 14.995) J· g−1 · K−1 and (2.517 to 14.727) J · g−1· K−1, respectively. The specific heat capacity of PVOH–CSS depends on the amount of starch. The specific heat capacity of the specimens can be approximated by polynomial equations with a curve fitting regression > 0.992. For instance, the specific heat capacity (in J · g−1 · K−1) of PPV37 can be expressed by Csp = −17.824 + 0.063T and PPV46 by Csp = −18.047 + 0.061T, where T is the temperature (in K).