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Strategies to Produce Thermoplastic Starch–Zein Blends: Effect on Compatibilization

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Abstract

Different strategies to produce thermoplastic materials using starch and zein were studied, aiming to investigate their effect on the compatibility of starch and zein. Research strategies comprised the use of two different plasticizers for starch, two different compatibilizing agents, and two blending procedures. The plasticizers were mixtures of sorbitol and glycerol (SG) or urea and formamide (UF). UF and maleated starch (MS) were used as compatibilizing agents. The blending procedures included: (1) thermoextruding starch and zein as premixed powder materials (TP[Mix]) and (2) coextruding the biopolymers previously thermoplasticized with suitable plasticizers. As observed by the tensile tests, scanning electronic microscopy, and dynamic mechanical analysis, segregation of phases occurred at different extents in all the starch–zein blends. Materials made with MS through the TP[Mix] procedure presented the most severe phases segregation, while the materials made with UF showed higher compatibility between starch and zein. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) suggests that increased zein content leads to a lower molecular order, which was ascribed to diminished molecular entanglement. Thermogravimetric analysis and FTIR analysis showed that the chemical interaction between starch and zein occurred more extensively in slabs made with UF than those made with MS. In addition, foamability was evaluated for the selected materials using supercritical CO2. Neat thermoplasticized starch plasticized with UF and themoplasticized zein with polyethylene-glycol 400 showed good suitability to be foamed, producing foams with porosities above 85 %. Starch plasticized with SG and starch–zein blends yielded compact structures with low porosity values after foaming.

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Abbreviations

UF:

Urea and formamide mixture at 2:1 (wt:wt) ratio

SG:

Sorbitol and glycerol mixture at 1.4:1 (wt:wt) ratio

MS:

Maleated starch

MSG:

Mixture of native/maleated starch (50:50) and SG as plasticizer

TPSUF :

Native starch thermoplasticized with UF

TPSSG :

Native starch thermoplasticized with SG

TPSMSG :

Thermoplasticized MSG

TPZ:

Zein thermoplasticized with PEG400

Mix[TP]:

Mixing thermoplasticized biopolymers through thermoextrusion

TP[Mix]:

Thermoplasticizing powder compositions of biopolymers and plasticizers

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of Tecnológico de Monterrey through the seed fund CAT-121 and CDB-181 (Centro de Biotecnologia FEMSA, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico). CONACyT (Mexico) provided doctoral scholarship 45964 to GTdeS. We are grateful to Massimo Lombardo (Department of Materials and Production Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy), Cristina del Barone (Laboratorio LaMest, CNR, Naples, Italy), Fabio Docimo, and Maria Rosaria Marcedula (Istituto per i Materiali Compositi e Biomedici, CNR, Naples, Italy) for the technical support provided for producing and studying the materials addressed in this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biotecnología- FEMSA, Tecnológico de Monterrey at Monterrey, Ave. Eugenio Garza Sada 2501 Sur Col. Tecnológico, CP 64849, Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico

    Grissel Trujillo-de Santiago & Silverio García-Lara

  2. Departamento de Ingeniería en Biotecnología, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Ciudad de México, Calle del Puente 222 Col. Ejidos de Huipulco, CP 14380, Tlalpan, Distrito Federal, Mexico

    Cecilia Rojas-de Gante

  3. Institute for Polymers, Composites and Biomaterials of the National Research Council of Italy (IPCB-CNR), P.le E. Fermi 1, 80055, Portici, Na, Italy

    Letizia Verdolotti & Salvatore Iannace

  4. Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica, dei Materiali e della Produzione Industriale, University of Naples Federico II, P.le Tecchio 80, 80125, Naples, Italy

    Ernesto Di Maio

Authors
  1. Grissel Trujillo-de Santiago
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  2. Cecilia Rojas-de Gante
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  3. Silverio García-Lara
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  4. Letizia Verdolotti
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  5. Ernesto Di Maio
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  6. Salvatore Iannace
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Correspondence to Ernesto Di Maio.

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Trujillo-de Santiago, G., Rojas-de Gante, C., García-Lara, S. et al. Strategies to Produce Thermoplastic Starch–Zein Blends: Effect on Compatibilization. J Polym Environ 22, 508–524 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-014-0685-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-014-0685-4

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