Comparison of Tensile, Permeability and Color Properties of Starch-based Bionanocomposites Containing Two Types of Fillers: Sodium Montmorilonite and Cellulose Nanocrystal

The objective of this research was to compare the tensile, permeability, solu- bility and color properties of plasticized starch-polyvinyl alcohol-Montmo- rillonite (PS-PVA-MMT) and plasticized starch-polyvinyl alcohol-cellulose nanocrystal (PS-PVA-NCC) bionanocomposite flms. The results showed that adding MMT (7%), increased the ultimate tensile strenght from 4.2 MPa to 4.61 MPa, however, NCC (7%) did not show signifcant (p < 0.5) effect on the ultimate tensile strength. Addition of MMT decreased while NCC increased the strain-to-break of the flms. The solubility in water decreased from 23.56% to 18.77% and 11.75% for the flms containing NCC and MMT, respectively. Similarly, water vapor permeability value of 7.41 ×10-7 g/m.h.Pa was dropped to 7.05×10-7 g/m.h.Pa and 6.19×10-7 g/m.h.Pa in flms containing NCC and MMT, respectively. The results showed that the effects of MMT on tensile and permeability were higher than NCC, which can be attributed to differences in the structure and hydrophilicity of two nanoparticles.