Thermoplastic corn starch reinforced with pine wood fibre and calcium carbonate precipitate filler

Abstract

The shortage of oil and related minerals and also their extreme environmental drawbacks are the main reason for the quick-growing interest in biodegradable polymer composites production. Biodegradable polymer composites are mainly produced from renewable resources which are biologically degradable. In this research, corn starch was plasticized with glycerol. The plasticized thermoplastic corn starch was reinforced with calcium carbonate precipitate powder as a filler and pine wood fibre as reinforcement. Free thermoplastic plasticized corn starch (FTPS), thermoplastic corn starch reinforced with calcium carbonate (CTPS), thermoplastic corn starch reinforced with pine wood (WTPS), thermoplastic corn starch reinforced with pine wood fibre and calcium carbonate precipitate hybrid composite (HTPS) were produced and compared for their mechanical properties like tensile strength and, hardness. DSC and DMA analysis were also done for determining their thermal properties. Moreover, the water absorption test was also carried out to understand their resistance to moisture. WTPS exhibits better results in most of the measured proprieties given that TPS and wood fibre being both hydrophobic resulted in a homogeneous distribution and better interfacial adhesion.