Water evaporation induced in-situ interfacial compatibilization for all-natural and high-strength straw-fiber/starch composites

Ying-Pei Zhang; Jin Wang; Kang-Wei Xia; Yun-Feng Zhao; Qing-Wen Yuan; Zhao-Xia Huang; Yanhong Feng; Jin-Ping Qu

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2022.120535

Water evaporation induced in-situ interfacial compatibilization for all-natural and high-strength straw-fiber/starch composites

Carbohydr Polym. 2023 Apr 1:305:120535. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2022.120535. Epub 2023 Jan 5.

Authors

Ying-Pei Zhang¹, Jin Wang¹, Kang-Wei Xia¹, Yun-Feng Zhao¹, Qing-Wen Yuan¹, Zhao-Xia Huang², Yanhong Feng¹, Jin-Ping Qu³

Affiliations

¹ National Engineering Research Center of Novel Equipment for Polymer Processing; Key Laboratory of Polymer Processing Engineering, Ministry of Education; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Technique and Equipment for Macromolecular Advanced Manufacturing; School of Mechanical & Automotive Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China.
² National Engineering Research Center of Novel Equipment for Polymer Processing; Key Laboratory of Polymer Processing Engineering, Ministry of Education; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Technique and Equipment for Macromolecular Advanced Manufacturing; School of Mechanical & Automotive Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address: mehuangzx@scut.edu.cn.
³ National Engineering Research Center of Novel Equipment for Polymer Processing; Key Laboratory of Polymer Processing Engineering, Ministry of Education; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Technique and Equipment for Macromolecular Advanced Manufacturing; School of Mechanical & Automotive Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address: jpqu@scut.edu.cn.

PMID: 36737188
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2022.120535

Abstract

In this paper, we proposed a novel and green strategy based on water evaporation induced in-situ interfacial compatibilization (WEIC) mechanism for fabricating high-strength and all-natural lignocellulose/starch composites. This mechanism exploits the natural compatibility of the lignocellulose and starch and was tested through an internal mixing process with regulated water evaporation. Specifically, we revealed that a restrained layer was in-situ formed at the interface of the lignocellulose and starch during the internal mixing process; a faster water evaporation rate thickens this restrained layer, restricts the starch's molecular movement and significantly increases the composite's mechanical properties. The highest tensile strength and Young's modulus of the composites achieved are 21.7 ± 0.8 MPa and 2.2 ± 0.1 GPa, respectively, superior to many existing starch/lignocellulose composites. Thus, this work provides new insight into the compatibilization of various hydrophilic polysaccharides and paves new avenues for developing greener and more facile methods to fabricate all-polysaccharide composites.

Keywords: Biodegradable composites; Interface compatibilization; Natural fiber; Starch.