Thermoplastic starch nanocomposites derived directly from cornmeal

A high content of water is needed in traditional thermoplastic starch (TPS) processing to plasticize the starch and facilitate the processing, which leads to relatively low strength and modulus of the products and causes the issue of product aging partially due to the gradual water loss over time. In this work, based on the results from our previous study on lignin and cellulose nanofibril-reinforced TPS composites, a low content of citric acid (<0.5 wt%) was used to replace all the added water in the prior study (∼20 wt%). Citric acid demonstrated a much stronger viscosity-reducing effect than water and enabled composite processing at a very low acid content. The resultant nanocomposites exhibited much higher strength and modulus than those containing 20 wt% water as the processing aid. Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) results showed strong interactions between the polar groups of starch and other ingredients. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) photos indicated the disappearance of the two-phase “sea-island” morphology, suggesting the strong compatibilization effect of the acid. To lower the cost of the nanocomposites, we further replaced the starch and zein (an expensive biopolymer) components in the original composites with low-cost cornmeal. The new nanocomposites with cornmeal as the major ingredient exhibited similar processability and mechanical properties. With its low cost and high properties, this new type of agricultural byproduct-based nanocomposites is expected to be a promising material to replace synthetic polymers in many applications.