Abstract:

Melt extrusion method was adopted to produce thermoplastic starch(TPS)/polyvinyl alcohol(PVA)/montmorillonite(MMT) nanocomposites. The mechanical properties of TPS were improved effectively by adding certain amount of MMT and PVA. Under a relative humidity of 50%, the X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy of the composites showed that MMT was exfoliated and well dispersed in TPS/PVA matrix. Mechanical property test showed that the mechanical property of the composites[w(MMT)=0% to 5%] was obviously improved. The tensile strength of the composite[w(MMT)=3%] reached 13.24 MPa and the Young′s modulus reached 61.46 MPa. This indicates that MMT is likely to play a role of physical crosslinking to improve the mechanical properties of composites.

Key words: thermoplastic starch, nanocomposite, montmorillonite, polyvinyl alcohol, exfolated