Abstract
The characterization of corn starch (CS) films impregnated with CaCO3 nanoparticles was investigated. Criteria such as morphology, crystallinity, water vapor permeability (WVP), opacity, and mechanical properties were the focus of the investigation. It was found that the CaCO3 contents had significant effects on the tensile properties of the nanocomposite films. The addition of CaCO3 nanoparticles to the CS films significantly increased tensile strength from 1.40 to 2.24 MPa, elongation from 79.21 to 118.98%, and Young’s modulus from 1.82 to 2.41 MPa. The incorporation of CaCO3 nanoparticles increased the opacity of films, lowered the degree of WVP and film solubility value compared to those of the CS films. The results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that with the increase of CaCO3 nanoparticles content in starch films, the roughness of the films increased, and pores or cavities were found on the surface of the films, while small cracks were observed in the structures of the fractured surfaces. X-ray diffraction showed that the addition of nanoparticles increased the peaks in the intensity of films.
Highlights
Starch has received considerable attention because of its totally biodegradable nature, low cost and wide availability [1,2,3,4]
A similar tendency was reported by Mbey et al (2012) for cassava starch-kaolinite composite films; they reported that when talc was added to the plasticized cassava starch matrix, there was a reduction of transmittance [18]
The possible reason for higher opacity value in films is due to the fact that mean particle size of the nanoparticles is almost similar to the size of the interspaces in starch film
Summary
Starch has received considerable attention because of its totally biodegradable nature, low cost and wide availability [1,2,3,4]. Starch has been considered one of the biopolymers with the greatest potential to produce biodegradable films by different processing techniques such as casting, injection or blow molding and so on [5]. There are some strong limitations to developing starch based films, which have poor tensile properties and high water vapor permeability on account of their hydrophilic nature and their sensitivity to moisture content. One possible approach to overcome this limitation is to strengthen starch matrixes with organic or mineral fillers [8]. These fillers reinforce biopolymeric matrixes and lead to the development of films with special properties due to the synergic effect between the components [9]
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