Waxy Maize Starch Nanocrystals as Filler in Natural Rubber

Starch nanocrystals obtained from acid hydrolysis of waxy maize starch granules consist in crystalline nanoplatelets about 6–8 nm thick with a length of 20–40 nm and a width of 15–30 nm. New nanocomposite materials, i.e. natural rubber (NR) filled with waxy maize starch nanocrystals were processed by casting. Dynamic mechanical analysis has shown that starch nanocrystals were a good reinforcing agent for NR at temperatures higher than the glass transition temperature of NR. Tensile tests have shown that until a weight fraction of 20 wt%, this new filler presented the advantage to reinforce natural rubber without decreasing significantly the strain at break of the material. These properties may be due to both the morphological nature of starch nanocrystals, and the formation of a percolating starch nanocrystals network within the NR matrix, resulting from hydrogen bonding forces between starch aggregates.