Triacetin

In this current study, hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) was grafted onto corn starch (CS), proceeding with a chemical modification method to obtain modified CS (CS_M) with improved properties. When CS and CS_M were subjected to Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) characterisation, distinct peaks were observed in CS_M. During FTIR characterisation, peaks at 1714 cm^-1 and 1629 cm^-1 were observed, corresponding to CO stretching of HEMA and secondary amines, respectively. These starch samples were then cast into films using glycerol as a plasticizer. Further, various concentrations of glutaraldehyde (GTA) (2 wt%, 5 wt%, and 8 wt%) and 0.1 wt% of organically modified montmorillonite (OMMT) were utilised to enhance the properties of the CS_M film samples. Among these, the film with 5 wt% GTA and 0.1 wt% OMMT (CS_MF-5GO) was optimised. The hydrophobicity was found to improve with the maximum water contact angle (WCA), and minimum water solubility (WS), water absorption (WA), moisture absorption (MA) at 22.7 % RH, and 75 % RH in comparison to other samples. The respective values were found to be, 95.07 ^o, 2.31 %, 189.1 %, 3.49 %, and 1.41 %. The tensile Strenght (TS) was also found to be maximum with a value of 30.22 MPa. The water vapour transmission rate (WVTR) was found to be 3.03 g/m².day.kPa and 86.23 g/m².day.kPa for the dry and wet cup methods, respectively. Further, soil biodegradation characterisation displayed a positive response with >90 % degradation within 10 days, confirming its sustainability.