Abstract:

Anhydrous zinc acetate （ZA）-modified thermoplastic starch （TPS） and tartaric acid （TA）-modified TPS were prepared through a twin?screw extruder and then designated as TPS?ZA and TPS?TA， respectively. The rheological behavior， morphology and mechanical properties of poly（propylene carbonate） （PPC）/TPS composites were investigated. The results indicated that compared to ZA， TA could help to improve the dispersibility of TPS in the PPC matrix. The mechanical properties of the composites were increased with the addition of TPS-TA at low contents. The PPC/TPS composites achieved optimal performance at a TPS-TA dosage of 10 wt%. The tensile strength of the composites increased up to 8.11 MPa from 5.70 MPa of pure PPC， and their characteristic temperature at 5 % weight loss also increased 31.7 ℃.

Key words: poly（propylene carbonate）, modified starch, composite, mechanical property, rheological behavior, morphology