<br/>Starch is attracting increasing attention as a potential substitute for conventional synthetic, petroleum-based polymers due to its low cost, abundance, and biodegradability. Native starch is hydrophilic with poor mechanical properties, but can be graft copolymerized to improve the physical properties and increase compatibility with hydrophobic polymers. If a suitable improvement in properties and compatibility with synthetic polymers could be achieved, the use of starch in a wide range of commercial applications becomes feasible, including paper coatings, water-based adhesives and other types coatings. We have developed methods to modify both cold water soluble starch and starch nanoparticles by grafting synthetic polymers to the starch backbone. First, cold water soluble starch (CWS) was graft copolymerized using nitroxide-mediated polymerization (NMP). The CWS hydroxyl groups were first modified with 4-vinylbenzyl chloride (VBC) followed by reaction with a nitroxide alkoxyamine to covalently bind the nitroxide to the starch backbone. This functionalized CWS was then grafted with synthetic polymer. Using a similar type of approach, we have also grafted synthetic polymer to crosslinked starch nanoparticles. The approach we have developed is highly flexible, allowing modification of the starch with a wide range of different synthetic polymers, and allowing facile tailoring of the graft copolymer design, including for example the number of grafted chains, the molecular weight of the grafted chains, and the incorporation of functional groups to impart desired functionality to the grafted starch. <br/>

Preparation of starch graft copolymers and grafted starch nanoparticles via nitroxide mediated polymerization

2019 Fall National Meeting

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