Abstract
Abstract The goal of this work was to compare the barrier, mechanical, and thermal properties of two types of starch–polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanocomposites. Sodium montmorillonite (MMT) and nanocrystalline cellulose were chosen as nanoreinforcements. X-ray diffraction (XRD) test showed well-distributed MMT in the starch–PVA matrix, possibly implying that the clay nanolayers formed an exfoliated structure. The moisture sorption, solubility and water vapor permeability (WVP) studies revealed that the addition of MMT and nanocrystalline cellulose reduced the moisture affinity of starch–PVA biocomposite. At the level of 7 % MMT, the nanocomposite films showed the highest ultimate tensile strength (UTS) (4.93 MPa) and the lowest strain to break (SB) (57.65 %). The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results showed an improvement in thermal properties for the starch–PVA–MMT nanocomposites, but not for the starch–PVA–NCC nanocomposites. Results of this study demonstrated that the use of MMT in the fabrication of starch–PVA nanocomposites is more favorable than that of nanocrystalline cellulose to produce a desirable biodegradable film for food packaging applications.
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