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Thermoplastic Processing of Blue Maize and White Sorghum Flours to Produce Bioplastics

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Abstract

In this study, we evaluated the feasibility of producing bioplastics from blue maize (BM) and white sorghum (WS) flours by thermoplasticization using sorbitol and glycerol as plasticizers and by using extrusion and compression molding. The analyzed variables were screw speed rotation (50–70 rpm), extrusion temperature (100–140 °C), number of extrusion passes (1 or 2), and chemical modification of the flours with maleic anhydride. Mechanical characterization revealed a major effect of the extrusion temperature among the processing variables studied, and the microstructure and slab color varied significantly with temperature. Chemical modification also had a major effect on the properties of the produced materials. Slabs made with chemically modified flours showed increases in their mechanical properties compared to their native counterparts. Consistently, scanning electronic microscopy revealed a more uniform microstructure in slabs made with chemically modified flours, and dynamic mechanical analysis indicated a better matrix-plasticizer interaction in these slabs when compared to slabs made with native flours. The BM and WS flours were determined to be suitable raw materials for producing thermoplastic materials.

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Abbreviations

BM:

Blue maize flour

mBM:

Modified blue maize flour

WS:

White sorghum flour

mWS:

Modified white sorghum flour

SSR:

Screw speed rotation

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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 the doctoral scholarship 45964 to GTdeS. The authors deeply appreciate the donation of the BM and WS by Eduardo Lovera (at Federación de Agricultores del Edomex) and Dr. L. W. Ronney (at Texas A&M University). We are grateful to Massimo Lombardo (Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica, dei Materiali e della Produzione Industriale, University of Naples Federico II, P.le Tecchio 80, 80125 Naples, Italy.), Cristina del Barone (Institute of Polymers, Composites and Biomaterials, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, P.le E. Fermi 1, 80055 Portici (Na), Italy), Fabio Docimo and Maria Rosaria Marcedula (Istituto per i Materiali Compositi e Biomedici, CNR, Naples, Italy), and Vincenzo Scognamiglio (Icimen S.p.A., Marcianise (Ce), 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 at Ciudad de México, Calle del Puente 222 Col. Ejidos de Huipulco, CP 14380, Tlalpan México, 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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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ernesto Di Maio.

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Trujillo-de Santiago, G., Rojas-de Gante, C., García-Lara, S. et al. Thermoplastic Processing of Blue Maize and White Sorghum Flours to Produce Bioplastics. J Polym Environ 23, 72–82 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-014-0708-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-014-0708-1

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