Thermoplastic Starch Composites with Highly Exfoliated Nano-Clay Fillers and Excellent Barrier Properties.

ABSTRACT: Thermoplastic starch (TPS) nanocomposites with unprecedentedly high loadings of up to 15 wt.% of the nano-clays Laponite (LAP; a synthetic product capable of good dispersion in suitable media) or Montmorillonite (MMT; modified with dialkyldimethylammonium chloride) were prepared by means of our new, two-step TPS preparation protocol. In both the TPS/LAP and TPS/MMT composites, we achieved perfect dispersion and extensive exfoliation of the nano-clays, resulting in pronounced improvements in mechanical performance (modulus increased up to one order of magnitude) and in excellent gas-barrier properties (extremely small permeabilities for O₂, CO₂, and even H₂). MMT, owing to its larger platelet size and to the formation of partially exfoliated multi-layer stru

SUBMITTER: Gajdosova V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12842834 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature