Improved mechanical and barrier properties of starch film with reduced graphene oxide modified by SDBS

Starch is regarded as one of the most promising biopolymers to replace the fossil resources. However, due to the poor mechanical properties, high sensitivity to humidity, and low barrier property, the development of starch-based materials has been limited. In this study, they improved the mechanical and barrier properties of starch film with reduced graphene oxide (RGO) modified by sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS). The hydrophilia of modified RGO (r-RGO) was improved and result in a good dispersion in oxidized starch (OS) matrix. The tensile strength of the r-RGO-4/OS film increased to 58.5 MPa which was more than three times of the OS film (17.2 MPa). Besides, both the water vapor and oxygen barrier properties of r-RGO/OS film were improved greatly compared with OS and GO/OS films. Moreover, the r-RGO/OS film could protect against UV light effectively due to its lightproof performance. In conclusion, the r-RGO/OS composite film has great potential applications in packaging industry. (C) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.