Wet Blending of Pregelatinized Starch and Poly (butylene succinate)

The biodegradable films of the blend of pregelatinized starch and poly(butylene succinate) were prepared by using mixture of water and glycerin as plasticizing agent. The mechanical properties, thermal performance of the films and molecular weight of PBS were investigated. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) results indicate that the molecular weight of PBS has no obvious change in spite of the presence of water. Starch can be well plasticized and uniformly dispersed in PBS matrix without obvious particles and agglomeration observed. When starch content was 10 wt% of total resin, the mechanical properties of the blend film is similar to that of pure PBS. With the further increase in the starch content, the mechanical properties were reduced; the crystallization temperature of the blend increased and the crystallization time is shortened. The thermogravimetric analysis found that pregelatinized starch and PBS decomposed in their respective temperature, the thermal stability of materials decreased.