Effect of postcrosslinking modification with glutaraldehyde on the properties of thermoplastic starch/poly(vinyl alcohol) blend films

Abstract Thermoplastic starch (TPS)/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) blend films were modified by crosslinking through soaking the films in glutaraldehyde aqueous solution and then heating in an oven. The effects of the concentration of the glutaraldehyde aqueous solution, soaking time, reaction temperature, and time on the crosslinking reaction were investigated. The moisture absorption and mechanical properties of the films were measured to characterize the influence of the crosslinking modification. It was found that the crosslinking modification significantly reduced the moisture sensitivity of the TPS/PVA blend films and increased the tensile strength and Young's modulus but decreased the elongation at break of the TPS/PVA blend films. The described method could be used for posttreating TPS/PVA‐based products to optimize their properties. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012