Preparation of Borax Cross-Linked Starch Nanoparticles for Improvement of Mechanical Properties of Maize Starch Films

• Published in: Journal of agricultural and food chemistry 2019-03, Vol.67 (10), p.2916-2925
• Main Authors: Lu, Hao, Ji, Na, Li, Man, Wang, Yanfei, Xiong, Liu, Zhou, Liyang, Qiu, Lizhong, Bian, Xiliang, Sun, Chunrui, Sun, Qingjie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0021-8561; 1520-5118
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.8b06479

Recently, starch nanoparticles have attracted widespread attention from various fields. In this study, a new strategy for preparing covalent-cross-linked starch nanoparticles was developed using boron ester bonds formed between debranched starch (DBS) and borax. The nanoparticles were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), dynamic light scattering (DLS), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The obtained nanoparticles were spherical with a size of 100–200 nm. The formation of boron ester bonds was confirmed by FTIR. The as-prepared starch nanoparticle exhibited a low relative crystallinity of 13.6%–23.5%. Compared with pure starch film, the tensile strength of starch film with 10% starch nanoparticles increased about 45%, and the elongation at break percentage of starch film with 5% starch nanoparticles increased about 20%. The new strategy of forming starch nanoparticles by using boron ester bonds will advance the research of carbohydrate nanoparticles.