Preparation and properties of glycerol plasticized-starch (GPS)/cellulose nanoparticle (CN) composites

In this paper, cellulose nanoparticles (CN) were coagulated from a NaOH/urea/H2O solution of microcrystalline cellulose (MC) using an ethanol/HCl aqueous solution as the precipitant. CN ranged in size from about 50 to 100 nm. Compared to MC, CN formed a new crystalline lattice of cellulose II. The glycerol plasticized-wheat starch (GPS)/CN nanocomposites were prepared using CN as filler in GPS matrix by a casting process. At a low loading level, CN was dispersed evenly in the GPS matrix. The tensile strength increased from 3.15 to 10.98 MPa when CN content went from 0 to 5 wt.% CN may increase the thermal stability of GPS/CN composites. Moreover, water vapor permeability decreased from 5.75 x 10(-10) to 3.43 x 10(-10) g m(-1) s(-1) Pa-1. The improvements in these properties may be attributed to the good interaction between CN filler and GPS matrix because of the similar polysaccharide structures of cellulose and starch. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.