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Lookup NU author(s): Professor David XieORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND).
This paper reports the plasticisation effect of the ionic liquid, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([Emim][OAc]), as compared with the traditionally used plasticiser, glycerol, on the characteristics of starch-based films. For minimising the additional effect of processing, a simple compression moulding process (which involves minimal shear) was used for preparation of starch-based films. The results show that [Emim][OAc] was favourable for plasticisation, i.e., disruption of starch granules (by scanning electron microscopy), and could result in a more amorphous structure in the starch-based materials (by X-ray diffraction and dynamic mechanical analysis). 13C CP/MAS and SPE/MAS NMR spectroscopy revealed that not only was the crystallinity reduced by [Emim][OAc], but also the amorphous starch present was plasticised to a more mobile form as indicated by the appearance of amorphous starch in the SPE/MAS spectrum. Mechanical results illustrate that, when either glycerol or [Emim][OAc] was used, a higher plasticiser content could contribute to higher flexibility. In spite of the accelerated thermal degradation of starch by [Emim][OAc] as shown by thermogravimetric analysis, the biodegradation study revealed the antimicrobial effect of [Emim][OAc] on the starch-based materials. Considering the high-amylose starch used here which is typically difficult to gelatinise in a traditional plasticiser (water and/or glycerol), [Emim][OAc] is demonstrated to be a promising plasticiser for starch to develop “green” flexible antimicrobial materials for novel applications.
Author(s): Xie F, Flanagan BM, Li M, Sangwan P, Truss RW, Halley PJ, Strounina EV, Whittaker AK, Gidley MJ, Dean KM, Shamshina JL, Rogers RD, McNally T
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Carbohydrate Polymers
Year: 2014
Volume: 111
Pages: 841-848
Print publication date: 13/10/2014
Online publication date: 29/05/2014
Acceptance date: 21/05/2014
Date deposited: 10/10/2023
ISSN (print): 0144-8617
ISSN (electronic): 1879-1344
Publisher: Elsevier
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2014.05.058
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2014.05.058
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