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Films made of potato starch from industrial potato stragglers and polyethylene: physicochemical, thermal, and mechanical properties

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Abstract

World plastic production has increased, and linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) is one of the most widely used polymers, but its low biodegradability rate has raised global concern. The objective of the present investigation was to evaluate the physicochemical, thermal, and mechanical properties of the films based on polyethylene and thermoplastic starch (TPS). LLDPE films were formulated by extrusion with TPS (0, 5, 10, 15, and 20% by weight), and the structural (FTIR-ATR), morphological (SEM), thermal (DSC, TGA/DTGA), and mechanical properties were evaluated. FTIR-ATR results showed that LLDPE had reduced interaction with the O–H groups of the starch matrix. Morphological analysis showed that the incorporation of TPS into the LLDPE matrix caused phase separation and low adhesion. DSC and TGA results showed a temperature reduction in melting point and thermal stability, as well as an increase in crystallinity values (from 49.7 to 61.24%) when adding TPS. The water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) increased from 4.21 to 10.64 g/(h m2) after the addition of TPS. The tensile strength and modulus did not show significant differences with the addition of TPS; however, the elongation-at-break and tear strength values showed an increase from 205.25% to 264.39% and 3.5 N to 4.14 N, respectively.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the technical assistance of Dr. William Santiago González and Dr. Víctor Rejón M. at CINVESTAV-IPN Unidad Mérida in performing the SEM-EDS, TGA, and DSC measurements. These analyses were performed at Laboratorio Nacional Conacyt LANNBIO-Cinvestav-Mérida (PROY No. 321119).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Posgrado, Tecnológico Nacional de México/I. T. Roque, Guanajuato, 38110, Celaya, México

    Diana G. Montoya-Anaya, César L. Aguirre-Mancilla & Claudia Grijalva-Verdugo

  2. Programa de Biotecnología, Universidad de Guanajuato, Guanajuato, 38060, Celaya, México

    Jesús R. Rodríguez-Núñez

  3. Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN, Unidad Mérida, Yucatán, 97310, Mérida, México

    Patricia Quintana-Owen

  4. Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo, A.C. CTAOV, 83304, Hermosillo, Sonora, México

    Tomás J. Madera-Santana

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  1. Diana G. Montoya-Anaya
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Contributions

DGMA: methodology, investigation, data curation, writing—original draft. JRRN: project administration, supervision, writing—original draft. CLAM: resources, project administration. CGV: writing—review and editing, supervision, methodology PQO: resources, formal analysis, writing—review and editing. TJMS: conceptualization, project administration, supervision, writing—original draft.

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Correspondence to Jesús R. Rodríguez-Núñez or Tomás J. Madera-Santana.

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Montoya-Anaya, D.G., Rodríguez-Núñez, J.R., Aguirre-Mancilla, C.L. et al. Films made of potato starch from industrial potato stragglers and polyethylene: physicochemical, thermal, and mechanical properties. Iran Polym J 32, 1321–1333 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13726-023-01215-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13726-023-01215-3

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