Surface modification of starch nanocrystals through ring-opening polymerization of ε-caprolactone and investigation of their microstructures

Bionanoparticles of starch obtained by submitting native potato starch granules to acid hydrolysis conditions. The resulted starch nanoparticles were used as core or macro initiator for polymerization of epsilon-caprolactone (CL). Starch nanoparticle-g-polycaprolactone was synthesized through ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of CL in the presence of Sn(Oct)(2) as initiator. The detailed microstructure of the resulted copolymer was characterized with NMR spectroscopy. Thermal characteristic of the copolymer was investigated using DSC and TGA. By introducing PCL, the range of melting temperature for starch was increased and degradation of copolymer occurred in a broader region. X-ray diffraction and TEM micrographs confirmed that there was no alteration of starch crystalline structure and morphology of nanoparticles, respectively. (C) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.