Open Access

ARTICLE

Processing and Characterization of Nano-biocomposites Based on Mater-Bi^® with Layered Silicates

A. Terenzi¹, A. Iannoni¹, L. Torre¹, A. Jiménez^2,*, J.M. Kenny¹

1 University of Perugia, UdR INSTM, Loc. Pentima Bassa 21,05100 Terni, Italy
2 University of Alicante, Analytical Chemistry, Nutrition and Food Sciences Department, P.O. Box 99, 03080 Alicante, Spain

* Corresponding Author:

Journal of Renewable Materials 2014, 2(1), 42-51. https://doi.org/10.7569/JRM.2014.634101

Received 18 February 2014; Accepted 18 February 2014;

Abstract

The development of new nano-biocomposites has been one of the main research areas of interest in polymer science in recent years, since they can combine the intrinsic biodegradable nature of matrices with the ability to modify their properties by the addition of selected nano-reinforcements. In this work, the addition of mineral nanoclays (montmorillonites and sepiolites) to a commercial starch-based matrix is proposed. A complete study on their processing by melt-intercalation techniques and further evaluation of the main properties of nano-biocomposites has been carried out. The results reported show an important infl uence of the nano-biocomposites morphology on their fi nal properties. In particular, the rheological and viscoelastic characteristics of these systems are very sensitive to the dispersion level of the nanofi ller, but it is possible to assess that the material processing behaviour is not compromised by the presence of these nano-reinforcements. In general, both nanofi llers had a positive infl uence in the materials fi nal properties. Mechanical performance shows improvements in terms of elastic modulus, without important limitations in terms of ductility. Thermal properties are improved in terms of residual mass after degradation and low improvements are also observed in terms of oxygen barrier properties.

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Keywords

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