Bulk plastic materials obtained from processing raw powders of renewable natural polymers via back pressure equal channel angular consolidation (BP-ECAC)

Renewable natural polymers wheat starch (WS) and wheat gluten (WG) were successfully processed into plastic bulk materials using back pressure equal channel angular consolidation (BP-ECAC) without using any additional plasticizers at relatively low temperatures. The strong shear deformation occurred during the process caused an effective deformation of WS or WG granular structures and resulted in an efficient gelatinization of starch or plasticization of gluten with the natural moisture content. Sufficient chain entanglement was formed in both WS and WG materials for achieving strong cohesion among the macromolecule matrixes. The mechanical strength of the obtained plastic materials was comparable to that of conventional polymers but stronger than the strength of thermoplastic WS or plasticized WG. The processing temperature played an important role in determination of morphologies and properties of the plastic materials. Increasing processing temperature would cause more effective gelatinization or plasticization of the natural polymers, enhance the interactions among different components in the systems, and form materials with improved mechanical properties. Thermal cross-linking might play a positive role in the improvement of mechanical properties when processing temperature was increased. However, thermal decomposition could also occur under such severe shearing especially at high temperatures. The optimum temperature for conducting such process was around 100–120 °C for WS and WG. The BP-ECAC method provides a potential to manufacture natural polymer based plastic materials efficiently on an industrial scale for various applications.