Abstract
AbstractA simple and environmentally‐friendly processing method was used to prepare thermoplastic starch (TPS)/ montmorillonite (MMT) nanocomposites. X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) demonstrated that glycerol could enlarge the d‐spacing and destruct the layered structure of MMT effectively during the pre‐processing of MMT. So the enlarged d‐spacing and fragmentized platelets of glycerol activated‐MMT were a precondition to form intercalated or exfoliated TPS‐based nanocomposites during the melt extrusion processing. These highly dispersive and compatible TPS/activated‐MMT nanocomposites had increased thermal stability and tensile properties as compared with non‐activated composites. Especially, the tensile strength of nanocomposites could be enhanced to 8.6 MPa, the improvement was about two times the initial tensile strength of TPS.
Published Version
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