A Study on Thermal Behaviour of Thermoplastic Starch Plasticized by [Emim] Ac and by [Emim] Cl

Thermoplastic starch (TPS) is a material that's been produced through a gelatinization process at elevated temperature in the presence of plasticizers. However, the hydrophilic properties of structural starch may decrease the thermal behaviour of TPS. Therefore, the effect of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([Emim] Ac) and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([Emim] Cl) as plasticizers on the thermal behaviour of TPSs was investigated in this paper. The TPSs were prepared with two different ILs/water ratios; 1:4 and 2:3. The addition of [Emim] Ac as plasticizer shows lower onset temperature of the thermal degradation than [Emim] Cl. The presence of [Emim] Ac promotes the thermal degradation of starch molecules, leaving an amount of around 13% of residue. The results indicated that TPS plasticized by [Emim] Ac improved the thermal behaviour of TPSs than [Emim] Cl. Therefore, this can conclude that [Emim] Ac is more suitable than [Emim] Cl as a plasticizer for TPS.