Optimization of water absorption of starch/PVA composites

Abstract The thermoplastic starch/PVA (SP) composites are prepared by a single‐screw extruder. This article presents a study of the influence of the formulation on the hydrophilicity of SP composites. An orthogonal array and the analysis of variance (ANOVA) are employed. The results of ANOVA show that the water absorption (WA) of the SP composites with increasing amount of starch, but glycerol and citric acid (CA) are useful in decreasing the WA of the SP composites. Some interactions are come into being between the factors, and the most important one is the interaction between W CA and W B . From the results of experiment, increasing the amount of CA and borax can improve the mechanical properties of SP composites and decrease the water absorption of SP composites by crosslinking starch and PVA, which was confirmed by thermalanalysis. POLYM. COMPOS., 28:674–679, 2007. © 2007 Society of Plastics Engineers