A novel alkylpolyglucoside‐modified montmorillonite‐filled starch bionanocomposites produced by extrusion.

Native cassava starch was modified by dry heating treatment, and sodic montmorillonite was modified using an alkylpolyglucoside biosurfactant to produce a novel montmorillonite‐filled starch bionanocomposites with improved performance. The bionanocomposites were produced in two extrusion steps using a co‐rotating twin‐screw extruder. The structural properties of the bionanocomposites were studied by X‐ray diffraction. The reinforcement effect and material performance were evaluated by hydrophobicity, solubility, opacity, barrier, thermal and mechanical properties. In general, the dispersion of the nanofillers resulted in bionanocomposites with intercalated structures and improved properties compared with unfilled bioplastics. The main results exhibited that modified montmorillonite showed better compatibility with starch, improving nanofiller dispersion and interaction than the native one. As a result, it increased the hydrophobicity and reduced solubility, water, and oxygen permeabilities in comparison with bionanocomposites based on native starch by 36%, 48%, and 68%, respectively. Also, the tensile strength and Young modulus increased from 0.60 to 2.56 MPa and from 2.99 to 15.68 MPa, respectively. In conclusion, modification of MMT by the biosurfactant is a good approach to enhance dispersion/interaction with the starch matrix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]