Abstract
Preparing blends from fully biodegradable resources is an important alternative in the production of materials less harmful to the environment. Among these materials, thermoplastic cornstarch (TPS) and polycaprolactone (PCL) are an interesting possibility for replacing conventional synthetic materials, and it is desirable that they present relative stability under conditions of processing and use. In the present work, PCL/TPS blends with up to 30% TPS, obtained from cornstarch plasticized with water and glycerin, coconut or babassu oil, were processed in an internal laboratory mixer. Adjusted torque variation rate during the last processing stage is a very sensitive indicator of molar mass alterations with processing time. Rheometry data indicate that TPS obtained with babassu and coconut vegetable oils have a higher molar mass compared to that obtained with glycerin. In addition, the incorporation of TPS promotes thermal degradation in PCL/TPS mixtures, which is more pronounced the higher the TPS content and with TPS-glycerin, except for the PCL/20%TPS blends obtained with glycerin and babassu oil. The mechanical properties of the extruded films decreased with the addition of TPS, this reduction being more evident with the increase in the TPS content and in systems with TPS obtained with babassu oil. In contrast, only in blends containing 10 and 20% TPS of glycerin, there was an increase in elongation at break, being a good feature for flexible films, this property is desirable in certain applications.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful for the financial support of the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES/Brazil) and to the Scientic and Technological Council (CNPq) for the fellowships of Carvalho, Vinhas and Almeida.
Funding
The funding was provided by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, 88882.455375/2019-01,Vithoria Alexandre Duarte Marinho.
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Marinho, V.A.D., Sousa, F.M., Vinhas, G.M. et al. Influence of the content of corn thermoplastic starches (TPS) prepared with different plasticizers on the rheological and mechanical properties of PCL/TPS blends. Polym. Bull. 80, 7627–7640 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-022-04416-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-022-04416-7