Abstract
In this study, agar/corn starch cryogels with different morphologies and characteristics were synthesized using sol, gel, and freeze-drying techniques. The addition of agar increased the gelatinization temperature of starch and decreased the gelatinization enthalpy, thereby inhibited the gelatinization process of starch. The rheological data revealed that the addition of agar accelerated the gelatinization process of the agar/starch binary system and significantly increased the storage modulus of the hydrogel. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, and scanning electron microscopy demonstrated that agar disrupted the retrogradation and crystal structure of starch. A lower concentration of agar destroyed the network structure formed by starch and increased the pore size of cryogel. However, the fiber-bundle structure formed in the large pores after increasing the agar content made the cryogel network more compact. However, this led to marginal increase in cryogel density which endowed the cryogel with significantly improved compressive strength (5.01 MPa) and toughness. Therefore, the incorporation of agar into starch to prepare a composite cryogel is an effective approach for improving the properties of starch-based cryogels.
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