Nanoarchitectonics Composites of Thermoplastic Starch and Montmorillonite Modified with Low Molecular Weight Polylactic Acid

Nano montmorillonite (MMT) was modified by low molecular weight polylactic acid (PLA), then, the PLA modified MMT and raw MMT were added into thermoplastic starch (TPS) to prepare biodegradable nanocomposite films, respectively. For both nanocomposite films with raw MMT and modified MMT, the T-max of degradation was enhanced and the mechanical properties were improved. The composite films containing 4 wt.% MMT displayed tensile strength of 5.06 MPa, approximately 1.4 times of that for the pure TPS films. The tensile strength of composite films containing 4 wt.% modified MMT is 6.74 MPa approximately 2 times of those for pure starch films. On the other hand, the composite film containing 4 wt.% modified MMT displayed elongation at break as high as 34.25%, which is 1.3 times of that of the pure starch film, while the composite films containing raw MMT had reduced elongation at break. This study showed that the MMT modified with PLA could significantly enhance the mechanical properties of TPS, and provides a new method to prepare fully biodegradable starch-based nanocomposites.