Abstract
In recent years, polymer engineering, at the molecular level, has proven to be an effective strategy to modulate thermal conductivity. Polymers have great applicability in the food packaging industry, in which transparency, lightness, flexibility, and biodegradability are highly desirable characteristics. In this work, a possible manner to adjust the thermal conductivity in cassava starch biopolymer films is presented. Our approach is based on modifying the starch molecular structure through the addition of borax, which has been previously used as an intermolecular bond reinforcer. We found that the thermal conductivity increases linearly with borax content. This effect is related to the crosslinking effect that allows the principal biopolymer chains to be brought closer together, generating an improved interconnected network favoring heat transfer. The highest value of the thermal conductivity is reached at a volume fraction of 1.40% of borax added. Our analyses indicate that the heat transport improves as borax concentration increases, while for borax volume fractions above 1.40%, heat carriers scattering phenomena induce a decrement in thermal conductivity. Additionally, to obtain a deeper understanding of our results, structural, optical, and mechanical characterizations were also performed.
Highlights
Since the last century, polymers synthesized from inorganic and organic raw materials like oil, coal, and fossil gas, have encountered several applications in different industries such as agriculture, packaging, furniture, food, electronics, and construction, among many others [1]
The thermal conductivity gradually decreases as the amount of added borax increases
The possibility of tuning the thermal conductivity of biopolymer films synthesized from cassava starch is reported
Summary
Polymers synthesized from inorganic and organic raw materials like oil, coal, and fossil gas, have encountered several applications in different industries such as agriculture, packaging, furniture, food, electronics, and construction, among many others [1]. In the field of biopolymers, starches account for much of the current research because they come from low-cost, renewable, biodegradable, and recyclable sources They are suitable for different thermal plasticization processes [8,9,10]. Their commercial application is highly limited due to their low glass transition temperature (Tg) and the lack of relaxation, resulting from the starch molecular chaining and the migration of plasticizers to the environment [11,12]. All of them show that depending on the plasticizer used, starch biopolymers present diverse changes in their mechanical properties
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