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Morphology and tensile properties of high‐density polyethylene/natural rubber/thermoplastic tapioca starch blends: The effect of citric acid‐modified tapioca starch
Author(s) -
Kahar A. W. M.,
Ismail H.,
Othman N.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.35057
Subject(s) - high density polyethylene , ultimate tensile strength , materials science , composite material , natural rubber , thermoplastic , citric acid , starch , polyethylene , polymer blend , scanning electron microscope , polymer , chemistry , copolymer , organic chemistry
The effect of citric acid on the tensile properties of high density polyethylene (HDPE)/natural rubber (NR)/thermoplastic tapioca starch (TPS) blends was investigated. The ratio between HDPE/NR was fixed at 70/30 and used as the matrix system. TPS loadings, after modification with citric acid (TPSCA) and without modification (TPS), were varied from 0 to 30 wt %. The morphologies and tensile properties of HDPE/NR blends were evaluated as a function of TPS loadings. The tensile strength, Young's modulus, and elongation at break were found to decrease with increasing TPS loading. However, a slight improvement in the tensile strength of HDPE/NR/TPSCA blends at 5 and 10 wt % TPS loadings were observed. TPS can be partly depolymerised to produce a low viscosity product when processed with citric acid. TPS with low viscosity can easily disperse in the thermoplastic natural rubber (TPNR) system and reduce the surface tension at the interphase of TPS‐HDPE/NR as shown by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012