Study of the mechanical properties of polyvinyl alcohol/starch blends

In this work, the solution casting technique was used to prepare polymer blend films based on Poly (vinyl alcohol)/corn starch. Tensile machine and optical microscope were used to characterize the prepared samples. The starch content with different weight ratios (25, 30, 35, 40 and 50) wt% was added to PVA. The results show that the addition of starch to PVA causes a significant decrease in the elongation and tensile strength, while Young's modulus increased. It was also observed from optical microscope, a good image of the starch particle distribution was obtained for the blend films up to 30 wt% of starch. Extra increase in starch content of 35, 40, 50 wt% led to agglomeration and the formation of voids in the films. The PVA/starch blends were studied with the aim of its use in drug delivery applications. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd.