Biodegradable Starch/Chitosan Foam via Microwave Assisted Preparation: Morphology and Performance Properties.

Xian Zhang,Runzhou Huang,Zhuangzhuang Teng,Jeffrey Catchmark

doi:10.3390/polym12112612

Abstract

The effects of chitosan (CTS) as the reinforcing phase on the properties of potato starch (PS)-based foams were studied in this work. The formic acid solutions of CTS and PS were uniformly mixed in a particular ratio by blending and then placed in a mold made of polytetrafluoroethylene for microwave treatment to form starch foam. The results showed that the molecular weight and concentration of CTS could effectively improve the density and compressive properties of starch-based foams. Furthermore, orthogonal experiments were designed, and the results showed that when the molecular weight of CTS in foams is 4.4 × 105, the mass fraction is 4 wt%, and the mass ratio of CTS–PS is 3/4.2; the compressive strength of foams is the highest at approximately 1.077 mPa. Furthermore, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis demonstrated the interaction between starch and CTS, which confirmed that the compatibility between CTS and PS is excellent.

Highlights

Global pollution is increasingly becoming a serious concern, causing extreme climate changes and natural disasters
Assuming other factors to be fixed, the higher the relative molecular weight of CTS, the higher will be the viscosity of the CTS solution, and the smaller the relative molecular weight is, the smaller will be the viscosity of the CTS solution
The molecular weights of other two types of CTS were estimated through the same calculation; Table 2 summarizes the values of the molecular weight

Summary

Introduction

Global pollution is increasingly becoming a serious concern, causing extreme climate changes and natural disasters. The huge pollution of traditional plastic products in the environment has extensively raised people’s concern. Traditional plastics such as polystyrene (PS), soft (hard) polyurethane, polyvinyl chloride, and polyolefin are widely used as the matrix of foaming materials, but due to the poor operability and degradability of these plastics, most of the foaming materials are wasted, leading to increasingly serious white pollution. Conventional plastics are nondegradable, which degrade slowly and require a long time, even hundreds of years, to degrade completely. They impact the soil negatively during this time. The exploration of degradable plastics that can replace traditional plastics holds great practical significance

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