PREPARATION OF STARCH/CLAY/GLYCEROL NANOCOMPOSITE FILMS AND THEIR FTIR, XRD, SEM AND MECHANICAL CHARACTERIZATIONS

In the present work, Mexican natural clay (NC) was used to prepare an organoclay (OC), and both were added to a mix of starch/glycerol to obtain nanocomposite films of starch (TPS)/clay/plasticizer. The average thickness of the TPS/5% NC/25% glycerol films was 81 +/- 3 mu m, and it was 91 +/- 2 mu m for the TPS/5% OC/25% glycerol films. Both the X-ray diffraction and infrared analyses showed that the glycerol and starch molecules can be intercalated into the clay galleries. A good dispersion of the components in the mix was observed via an electron scanning microscope. Using the nanoindentation method, it was observed that the materials with the highest elasticity had the lowest amount of clay and the highest concentration of glycerol. The moisture permeability of the films was reduced by 80% in the presence of the clay materials utilized in this study.