Properties of thermoplastic starch from cassava bagasse and cassava starch and their blends with poly (lactic acid)

Cassava bagasse is an inexpensive and broadly available waste byproduct from cassava starch production. It contains roughly 50% cassava starch along with mostly fiber and could be a valuable feedstock for various bioproducts. Cassava bagasse and cassava starch were used in this study to make fiber-reinforced thermoplastic starch (TPSB and TPSI, respectively). In addition, blends of poly (lactic acid) and TPSI (20%) and TPSB (5, 10, 15, 20%) were prepared as a means of producing low cost composite materials with good performance. The TPS and PLA blends were prepared by extrusion and their morphological, mechanical, spectral, and thermal properties were evaluated. The results showed the feasibility of obtaining thermoplastic starches from cassava bagasse. The presence of fiber in the bagasse acted as reinforcement in the TPS matrix and increased the maximum tensile strength (0.60 MPa) and the tensile modulus (41.6 MPa) compared to cassava starch TPS (0.40 and 2.04 MPa, respectively). As expected, blending TPS with PLA reduced the tensile strength (55.4 MPa) and modulus (2.4 GPa) of neat PLA. At higher TPSB content (20%) the maximum strength (19.9 MPa) and tensile modulus (1.7 GPa) were reduced about 64% and 32%, respectively, compared to the PLA matrix. In comparison, the tensile strength (16.7) and modulus (1.2 GPa) of PLA blends made with TPSI were reduced 70% and 51% respectively. The fiber from the cassava bagasse was considered a filler since no increase in tensile strength of PLA/TPS blends was observed. The TPSI (33.1%) had higher elongation to break compared to both TPSB (4.9%) and PLA (2.6%). The elongation to break increased from 2.6% to 14.5% by blending TPSI with PLA. In contrast, elongation to break decreased slightly by blending TPSB with PLA. Thermal analysis indicated there was some low level of interaction between PLA and TPS. In PLA/TPSB blends, the TPSB increased the crystallinity of the PLA component compared to neat PLA. The fiber component of TPSB appeared to have a nucleating effect favoring PLA crystallization.

► Cassava bagasse, an important byproduct of cassava starch production, was used successfully in making fiber reinforced thermoplastic starch (TPS) and poly (lactic acid) (PLA)/TPS blends.
► The TPS had a low level of miscibility with PLA.
► The fiber present in the cassava bagasse acted as a reinforcement in increasing the strength of TPS and as a filler to TPS/PLA blends.