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Comparative study on the blends of PBS/thermoplastic starch prepared from

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DOI: 10.1002/star.201200260

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Starch/Stärke 2013, 65, 831–839 DOI 10.1002/star.201200260 831

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Comparative study on the blends of PBS/thermoplastic

starch prepared from waxy and normal corn starches
Jiwei Li1,2, Xuegang Luo1,2, Xiaoyan Lin1,2 and Ye Zhou1,2

1
Engineering Research Center of Biomass Materials, Ministry of Education, Southwest University of Science and Technology,
Mianyang, Sichuan, P. R. China
2
School of Material Science and Engineering, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, P. R. China

In this study, waxy (0% amylose) and normal (26% amylose) corn starches were used to prepare Received: November 10, 2012
thermoplastic starch (WTPS and NTPS, respectively). Furthermore, comparative blends of poly Revised: January 1, 2013
(butylene succinate) (PBS) and WTPS and NTPS were prepared for investigating the effect of Accepted: January 2, 2013
starch type and PBS content on the properties of PBS/TPS blends. Morphology, processability,
mechanical properties, water resistance, and thermal stability of the blends were evaluated. The
results showed that the plasticization and processing of waxy corn starch were more easily
performed than normal corn starch. The melt flow index, tensile properties, water resistance,
and thermo stability of the PBS/TPS blends increased significantly with increasing PBS content.
In addition, compared with the PBS/NTPS blends, the combination of PBS and WTPS could gain
some excellent performances such as good processability, superior mechanical properties, and
higher water resistance.

Keywords:
Amylose content / Blends / Poly (butylene succinate) / Thermoplastic starch

1 Introduction
Recently, the development of environment-friendly and bio-
degradable materials from starch has received increasing atten-
tion in an attempt to substitute petroleum-based materials,
which present important concerns in terms of pollution and
sustainability [1, 2]. For almost any application, the ordered
granular structure of starch is disrupted by heating with a
plasticizer or gelatinization agent and the so-called thermo-
plastic starch (TPS) is developed with this method [3]. TPS is
economically viable, classified as biodegradable or compostable,
and can be produced from a range of native sources including
Correspondence: Professor Xuegang Luo, Engineering Research
Center of Biomass Materials, Ministry of Education, Southwest
University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, Sichuan
621010, P. R. China
E-mail: lxg-2007@163.com
Fax: þ86-816-6089009
wheat, rice, corn, potato, pea, and cassava [4–6]. However, pure
TPS is brittle and degrades rapidly when exposed in the natural
environment. In addition, its mechanical properties are very
sensitive to moisture content, which restricts its widespread
applications. In order to overcome these drawbacks, TPS has
been blended with other polymers, as polymer blends can offer
a simple, rapid, and cheap method to achieve property combi-
nations that are not generally available in any single polymeric
material [2, 6, 7]. For example, to improve the processability and
mechanical properties, TPS obtained by treating starch with
glycerol has been used for blending with polyethylene (PE) [8,
9], polypropylene (PP) [10], and polyamide (PA) [11, 12].
Besides, in efforts to obtain totally biodegradable materials,
numerous blends of TPS with various completely biodegrad-
able polymers have been developed [13, 14]. Among the com-
pletely biodegradable polymers, poly (butylene succinate) (PBS)
has received enormous attention as it not only has excellent
biodegradability in nature, but also has comparable mechanical
properties with general-purpose thermoplastics [15]. A number

Abbreviations: MFI, melt flow index; NTPS, TPS prepared

from normal corn starch; PBS, poly (butylene succinate);
RH, relative humidity; TPS, thermoplastic starch; WTPS, TPS Colour online: See the article online to view Figs. 1, 2, 6, and 7
prepared from waxy corn starch in colour.

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832 J. Li et al.
of researches have been conducted on the preparation of
PBS/TPS blend materials [16, 17].
Starch consists of two major components, the linear
amylose and the highly branched amylopectin [4]. The pro-
portion of amylose chains in native starch is genetically
established and generally consistent for a particular plant
species. In normal starches, amylose constitutes about
15–30% of total starch [18]. Waxy starches have approximately
0–5% amylose, whereas the amylose contents of high
amylose starches are in the range of 35–70% [4, 19]. There
are many reported investigations of the effects of starch
type or amylose/amylopectin ratio on the final properties of
starch-based materials [1, 20–24]. In addition, previous studies
have shown that TPS made from high amylose starch has
better thermal and mechanical properties [25, 26]. However,
the processing (especially extrusion) of high amylose starch is
much more difficult than normal starch, because a higher die
pressure is required due to the higher melt viscosity and
unstable flow under some conditions [1, 21]. Although it is
well known that the properties of TPS varied with starch type or
amylose content, limited research has been reported on the
relationship between starch type (or amylose/amylopectin ratio)
and properties of TPS-based blends.
Presently, pure TPS cannot meet all the application
requirements due to its poor mechanical properties and
high sensitivity to moisture, a blending approach is needed
[2, 7, 10]. The influence of starch type on the properties of
TPS is important when choosing raw materials among
different starches and it is possible to establish a correlation
between starch type and properties of TPS-based blends
for optimizing industrial applications of starch-based prod-
ucts. For these reasons, it is necessary to present the effects of
starch type (or amylose/amylopectin ratio) on the properties
of TPS-based blends. In this context, waxy (0% amylose) and
normal (26% amylose) corn starches as well as a bio-
degradable polyester PBS were chosen as raw materials,
and this study had two main aims. Firstly, it aimed to study
the plasticization and processability of waxy and normal corn
starches in the presence of glycerol. Secondly, it aimed to
comparatively study the effects of starch type and PBS content
on the morphology, processability, mechanical properties,
water resistance, and thermal stability of PBS/TPS blends.
2 Materials and methods
2.1 Materials
Waxy corn starch (0% amylose) was a gift from Shandong
Hua Nong Special Corn Starch Co. Ltd. Normal corn starch
(26% amylose) was purchased from Ningxia Tian Hao Starch
Co. Ltd. Glycerol was used as plasticizer and purchased from
commercial sources in Mianyang, China. PBS with a melt
flow index (MFI) of 35 g/10 min (1908C, 2.16 kg) was sup-
ß 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
Starch/Stärke 2013, 65, 831–839
plied by Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry of the
Chinese Academy of Sciences.
2.2 Preparation and characterization of
thermoplastic starch (TPS)
Before melt blending, starch/glycerol composites (100:30 w/w)
were premixed by hand at room temperature. A Haake torque
rheometer incorporating a mixer (Rheomix 600 OS) with
twin-roller rotors was used to prepare TPS. The samples were
melt blended at 1408C with a rotor speed of 40 rpm for
15 min. During mixing, the torque curves were recorded
to evaluate the plasticization and processability of the
starches. The obtained products were named WTPS (pre-
pared from waxy corn starch) and NTPS (prepared from
normal corn starch), respectively.
Cross-sections were obtained by cracking the TPS samples
in liquid nitrogen and the fracture morphologies were
investigated by a scanning electron microscopy (SEM;
S440, Leica Cambridge Ltd.). All dried samples were sputter
coated with gold prior to examination.
2.3 Preparation and characterization of PBS/TPS
blends
2.3.1 Preparation of PBS/TPS blends
Melt blending of PBS with TPS was carried out by using a
Haake twin-screw extruder (Rheomex PTW16/25 OS) at a
temperature profile of 90–1508C and a screw speed of 40 rpm.
The venting port was kept open during compounding so as
to allow further moisture removal. Four different levels of
PBS content were used, namely, 20, 40, 60, and 80 wt%.
PBS/WTPS series represent the PBS/thermoplastic waxy corn
starch blend system and the descriptor PBS/NTPS represent
PBS/thermoplastic normal corn starch blend system.
2.3.2 X-ray diffraction
The XRD analysis was performed at ambient temperature by
X’ Pert PRO (Holand) X-ray diffractometer with a target at
40 kV and 40 mA. The diffraction angle ranged from 58 to 508.
2.3.3 Melt flow index (MFI)
MFI measurements were performed on a XNR-400C melt
flow instrument (Kauth Scientific Technical Services Co. Ltd.,
Chengde City, China) at a temperature of 1908C and a load of
3.8 kg.
2.3.4 Mechanical properties
All the mechanical property measurements were performed
on injection molded samples. A microinjection-moulding
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Starch/Stärke 2013, 65, 831–839
machine (RR/TSMP/134, RAY-RAN test equipment LTD.)
was used to prepare injection-molded samples. The injection
pressure is 11 bar and the injection temperature is 1658C.
Tensile strength, modulus, and elongation at break were
measured on a mechanical tensile tester (CMT6104-SANS,
China), according to the GB/T 1040-92 method. Before
testing, all samples were kept in a conditioning cabinet
of 50% relative humidity (RH) at 258C to ensure the
stabilization of their water content. A crosshead speed of
50 mm/min was used. Five specimens were used for each
blend condition.
2.3.5 Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
observations
Morphologies of the fractured samples from tensile testing
were investigated by a scanning electron microscopy (S440
Leica Cambridge Ltd.). All specimens were sputter coated
with gold prior to examination.
2.3.6 Moisture absorption
Newly prepared sample was dried by a hot-air oven at 1058C
for 12 h and then stored at 75% RH at a temperature of
Figure 1. (a) Torque variation as a function of time for samples. (b) SEM images of fractured surface of WTPS and NTPS.
ß 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
833
30
28C prior to moisture uptake evaluation. The 75%
RH was obtained by using a saturated solution of sodium
chloride (NaCl) in a hermetically closed container. The per-
centage of moisture absorption (x) was calculated as follows:
MX  M0
x¼  100% (1)
M0
MX is the weight of a sample in the X h; M0 is the initial
weight of a sample; x is the moisture absorption ratio.
2.3.7 Thermogravimetric analysis
Thermogravimetric experiments were performed using a
TGA Q500 apparatus of TA Instruments. The sample weight
was about 5 mg. Samples were heated from 30 to 6008C at a
heating rate of 108C/min. All the TGA scans were carried out
under a nitrogen atmosphere.
2.3.8 Statistical methods
Experimental data are analyzed by Data Processing System
(DPS). All statistical analyses were performed using a uni-
variate analysis of variance.
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834 J. Li et al.
Table 1. Torque rheological parameters of WTPS and NTPS
Maximum Equilibrium Plasticizing
Sample torque (Nm) torque (Nm) time (s)
WTPS 8.2 8.8 120
NTPS 14.3 16.2 162
The data is reported as mean
SD, n ¼ 3.
3 Results and discussion
3.1 Characterization of TPS
Native starches are non-plastic due to the intra- and inter-
molecular hydrogen bonds between the hydroxyl groups of
their principal components [3]. By applying mechanical shear
stresses and heat in the presence of suitable plasticizers, the
native starch can be processed like common plastics [1]. The
Haake torque rheometer provides a convenient tool to study
the plasticization and processability of starches. The torque
measurements for the plasticization and melting process of
waxy and normal corn starches are shown in Fig. 1a. Torque
rheological parameters including maximum torque, equi-
librium torque, and plasticizing time are listed in Table 1.
It can be seen from Fig. 1a that during processing waxy or
normal corn starch plasticized with glycerol show similar
change tendency of torque with time, increasing rapidly to
maximum torque and decreasing gradually and then level off
to equilibrium torque. Similar behavior has been observed for
starch plastified with water or various polyols [7, 27]. As
reported in Table 1, the maximum torque and plasticizing
time of NTPS are higher than those of WTPS, which indicates
that the plasticization of waxy corn starch is more easily
performed than normal corn starch. It can also be found
from Table 1 that the equilibrium torque of NTPS is higher
than that of WTPS. This result suggests that the melt viscosity
of NTPS is higher than that of WTPS, as the equilibrium
torque is usually used as a comparative estimate of the
Figure 2. X-ray patterns of different PBS/TPS blends with different PBS contents.
ß 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
Starch/Stärke 2013, 65, 831–839
viscosity of the polymer melts and the higher the viscosity
is, the higher the equilibrium torque is [7, 28].
Previous studies have suggested that the morphology
structure of TPS depended to a great extent on the starch
type used [6, 19]. Micrographs of the fragile fracture surface
obtained by SEM (see Fig. 1b) show that WTPS has a
smoother homogeneous surface, while the morphology of
NTPS presents an amorphous homogeneous matrix sur-
rounded by well defined predominant granular domains.
Differences in morphologies resulting from the use of vari-
ous types of starch are responding to the different degree of
starch disruption in WTPS and NTPS. This result strengthens
the conclusion that under the condition used in this study
(30 wt% glycerol, 1408C with a rotor speed of 40 rpm for
15 min), the plasticization degree of waxy corn starch is
higher than that of normal corn starch.
3.2 Characterization of PBS/TPS blends
3.2.1 X-ray analysis
The X-ray diffractograms summarizing the effects of starch
type as well as PBS content on the crystalline structures of the
PBS/TPS blends are presented in Fig. 2.
From Fig. 2, it can be seen that there is no evident
diffraction peak for WTPS, which indicates that the crystals
of native waxy corn starch were fully melted during process-
ing. However, in the case of NTPS, a pattern of V-type
(2u ¼ 13.18 and 208) crystallinity is observed, which is
due to processing-induced crystallinity of single-helical
amylose [25]. The X-ray diffractograms’ discordance between
WTPS and NTPS can be related to the level of amylose in
corn starch, as the formation of type V crystalline structures
depends on the presence of amylose.
Regardless of starch type, the additional peaks at 19.58,
22.58, and 29.38 (Fig. 2a and b) are attributed to that of
PBS [29]. Incidentally, the comparison of the starch type
shows that the two blend systems have the similar diffraction
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Starch/Stärke 2013, 65, 831–839 835

patterns with different PBS contents. Furthermore, in cases 3.2.3 Mechanical properties
of PBS/NTPS blends, the original diffraction peaks
(2u ¼ 13.18 and 208) of NTPS hardly exist and are absent Figure 4 shows the mechanical properties (tensile strength,
when the PBS content exceeds 60 wt% (Fig. 2b), as over- modulus, and elongation at break) for the different compo-
lapped by the stronger patterns (2u ¼ 19.58, 22.58, and sitions of PBS/WTPS and PBS/NTPS. With the increase of
29.38) of PBS. The X-ray results demonstrate that the
crystalline structure of PBS/TPS blends depend on the starch
type as well as PBS content.

3.2.2 Melt flow index (MFI)

Figure 3 shows the MFI values of the different PBS/WTPS

and PBS/NTPS compositions. It can be observed that MFI
values of the two blend systems increase significantly with
increasing PBS content. Since the melt viscosity of PBS is
much lower than that of TPS [2, 16], the significant increase in
MFI values can be mainly attributed to the molten PBS
matrix. Also, the MFI results indicate that the incorporation
of PBS, even at a low content, greatly ease the processability
of TPS. This point is particularly interesting, as the
thermal processing of starch-based polymers is known to
be difficult.
Considering the results by starch type, the MFI values of
WTPS are obviously higher than those of NTPS (Fig. 3),
which is in agreement with the torque rheometry measure-
ment that the melt viscosity of WTPS is lower than that of
NTPS. In like manner, at lower PBS content (20 and 40 wt%),
since TPS is the main component in the blend, the MFI values
of PBS/WTPS blends are higher than those of PBS/NTPS
blends. However, when PBS content goes up to a high level
(60 wt%), a similar higher MFI value is observed for these
two blend systems. On this occasion, it is important to note
that PBS is the main component of the blend, and that the
greater PBS content results in a pronounced ‘‘lubrication’’
effect, increasing the flow ability of the blends.

Figure 4. (a) Tensile strength, (b) modulus, and (c) elongation at

Figure 3. MFI of different PBS/TPS blends with different PBS break of different PBS/TPS blends with different PBS contents.
contents. The data is reported as mean
SD, n ¼ 3. The data is reported as mean
SD, n ¼ 5.

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836 J. Li et al.
PBS content from 20 to 80 wt%, the tensile strength and
elongation at break increase continuously (Fig. 4a and c),
while the modulus monotonously decreases (Fig. 4b). This
can be ascribed to the main phase changing from TPS (com-
paratively rigid) to PBS (comparatively flexible) at PBS content
between 60 and 80 wt%, which counterbalances the undesir-
able effects resulting from the incompatibility between TPS
(hydrophilic) and PBS (hydrophobic). Based on the results
from Fig. 4, it can be concluded that PBS contributes to
improve the strength and extensibility, while decreasing
the rigidity, of the blends.
Previous research works have demonstrated that starch
with high amylose content gave high crystallinity, which
led to higher mechanical properties compared to that
with low amylose content [25]. However, in this study,
inconsistent result is obtained that the PBS/WTPS blends
(0% amylose) have better tensile properties than those of
PBS/NTPS blends (26% amylose) as shown in Fig. 4a–c. It
should be noted that, in this study, the TPS is prepared
with blending of PBS as the second component, which is
different from the pure TPS materials reported in the
previous studies. Furthermore, the sequential process
(thermo plasticization (first) and melting blending with
PBS (second)) used in this study is not sufficient for
normal corn starch complete plasticization resulting in
some granulate residuals dispersed in the PBS matrix
(see Fig. 5). As a result, the interfacial adhesion between
PBS and NTPS is poor, which can be responsible for the
poor mechanical properties of PBS/NTPS blends. Similar
results have also been reported by other authors on starch-
based blends formulated with native starches of various
amylose contents [30, 31].
Figure 5. SEM images of fractured surface after tensile testing of different samples: (a) PBS/WTPS (20/80), (b) PBS/WTPS (40/60), (c) PBS/
WTPS (60/40), (d) PBS/WTPS (80/20), (e) PBS/NTPS (20/80) (f) PBS/NTPS (40/60), (g) PBS/NTPS (60/40) and (h) PBS/NTPS (80/20).
ß 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
Starch/Stärke 2013, 65, 831–839
3.2.4 Morphology analysis
In polymer blends, it is necessary to study the morphology of
the final product since most of its properties, especially
its mechanical properties, depend on this [3, 32]. The
morphologies of PBS/TPS blends at the fractured surface
after tensile testing were observed by SEM (Fig. 5).
Morphological variations are found as a function of
the mass composition of the blends’ components (Fig. 5).
At lower PBS content (20 wt%), both PBS/WTPS and
PBS/NTPS blends exhibit a continuous, homogeneous, and
little rough surface (Fig. 5a and e). When the PBS content
is further increased up to 40, 60, and 80 wt%, a rough
surface with some small holes and faults is observed
(Fig. 5b–d and f–h). Similar morphological variations have
also been reported for TPS/PLA blends [18, 33]. As is well
known, the blend morphology is controlled by parameters
such as the nature of the polymers (interfacial energy and
viscosity ratio), the composition of the blends as well as
the processing conditions [2, 7, 32]. For this reason, the
morphological variations for PBS/TPS blends may be associ-
ated with the differences in the viscosity of PBS and TPS
along with the varying hybrid compositions.
It is also found that residual granular structure and
cracks are present on the fracture surface of PBS/NTPS,
while no visible starch granules can be detected on the
fracture surface of PBS/WTPS (but show incompatible
‘‘sea island’’ biphase structure), especially at 40 and
60 wt% PBS contents (Fig. 5b, c, f, and g). These resulting
morphologies imply a lower interfacial adhesion between
PBS and NTPS, which corresponds well with the results
determined by tensile testing (see Fig. 4a–c. As demonstrated
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Starch/Stärke 2013, 65, 831–839 837

in Section 3.1, the plasticization of waxy corn starch was 3.2.6 Thermal stability
more easily performed than normal corn starch. So, it can
be concluded that the resulting morphologies as well as Evaluation of the thermal stability of the material is also of
mechanical properties of PBS/TPS blends depend on the great importance for the applications. Hence, thermogravi-
degree of plasticization, which is primarily governed by the metric analyses of the blends were carried out. Figure 7a
types of starch used. and b shows the curves of the mass loss as a function of
temperature for the PBS/WTPS and PBS/NTPS blends,
3.2.5 Moisture absorption respectively. The behavior of the mass loss curves is similar
for the two blend systems and three distinct regions can be
The hydroxyl groups in starch can form a hydrogen bond with
water, so water sensitivity is an important criterion for
many practical applications of starch-based materials [2, 31].
Figure 6 shows the absorption curves of equilibrium water
as a function of composition for the PBS/TPS blends.
As expected, the moisture absorption isotherms of
WTPS is higher than that of NTPS (Fig. 6), as the starch
with low amylose content can absorb more water than the
one with high amylose content due to its higher amount of
large branched amorphous molecules of amylopectin [30].
Furthermore, the incorporation of PBS can dramatically
decreases the water absorption of TPS and reduces the water
sensitivity of the PBS/TPS blend due to the hydrophobic
characteristic of PBS.
Besides PBS features, the starch type also has an
influence on the moisture absorption. As can be seen in
Fig. 6, the moisture absorption isotherms of PBS/WTPS
blends are slightly lower than those of the corresponding
PBS/NTPS blends. This can be explained by a finer
dispersion of WTPS phase in the PBS matrix due to its
lower melt viscosity, which leaves less free hydroxyl
groups for water binding. Additionally, the dense and
homogenous microstructure can hinder the diffusion of
water molecules in the PBS/WTPS blends. Similar reasoning
has been offered for starch/clay nanocomposites that the
better the dispersion of the clay in the starch matrix, the
better the water resistance [2, 34].

Figure 7. (a) TGA curves for PBS/WTPS blends; (b) TGA curves
for PBS/NTPS blends, and (c) A plot of TPS content versus de-
Figure 6. Moisture absorption isotherms of different PBS/TPS composition temperature of PBS for PBS/WTPS and PBS/NTPS
blends with different PBS contents. blends (The data is reported as mean
SD, n ¼ 3).

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838 J. Li et al.
seen in these curves. The initial weight loss is generally due to
the loss of volatiles (water and glycerol) in the blend system
(90–2308C); the second stage is due to the thermal degra-
dation of starch (started at about 3008C), and the final stage is
the main degradation zone of PBS (above 4008C).
Since the PBS/TPS blends have three decomposition
stages (Fig. 7a and b), so the decomposition temperature
(Td) of PBS (the last Td of the blend) which indicating the
‘‘harder’’ thermal degradation is used to represent the ther-
mal stability of the blends. Figure 7c shows a plot of TPS
content versus Td of PBS. Similar with the decomposition
behavior of other hydrophilic fillers or plant fibers [1, 35, 36],
the decomposition of TPS may produce small polar molecules
which, advanced the degradation process in PBS. Therefore,
the Td of PBS decreases with increasing the WTPS or NTPS
content (Fig. 7c). As seen in Fig. 7c, the Td of PBS/NTPS
blend is higher than that of the corresponding PBS/WTPS
blend when TPS content is 20 or 40 wt%. However,
when TPS content increased to 60 or 80 wt% in the blends,
the PBS/WTPS blend has a higher Td compared with that of
the PBS/NTPS blend. These observations suggest that
both the starch type and PBS content can affect the thermal
stability of PBS/TPS blends. However, the thermal stability
varied behaviors of the blends are difficult to explain. It
probably corresponds to an overlapping of different effects
related to the thermal stability of PBS, thermal degradation of
WTPS and NTPS as well as interactions between PBS and
TPS molecules.
4 Conclusions
In this study, it was found that the plasticization and process-
ing of waxy corn starch were more easily performed than
normal corn starch. The MFI, tensile properties, water resist-
ance, and thermo stability of PBS/TPS blends increased
significantly with increasing PBS content. Compared with
the PBS/NTPS blends, the combination of PBS with WTPS
could gain some excellent performances such as good proc-
essability, excellent mechanical properties, and higher water
resistance. WTPS has higher degree of plasticization and
easier processability than NTPS, which can be used to explain
the resulting higher performance of PBS/WTPS blends. In
this study, it was demonstrated that altering the types of starch
may be a promising and effective approach to prepare eco-
friendly TPS-based blends with excellent properties.
This work was supported by the National Science and
Technology Pillar Program during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan
Period (Grant No. 2007BAE42B04) and Postgraduate
Innovation Fund sponsored by Southwest University of Science
and Technology (Grant No. 12ycjj09). Experiments were con-
ducted at Engineering Research Center of Biomass Materials,
Ministry of Education, Southwest University of Science and
ß 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
Starch/Stärke 2013, 65, 831–839
Technology, Mianyang, China. Thanks for the support of the
analysis and testing center of Southwest University of Science
and Technology.
The authors have declared no conflict of interest.
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