A Review on Starch Based Nanocomposites for Bioplastic Materials

The use of nanoparticles as additives to enhance the performance of materials has attracted considerable interest and investment in the past decade. Layered silicates such as clay are the most preferred nano reinforcing particles because of their environmental advantages, natural abundance, low cost in addition to their contribution to improved properties. Toyota Company became the first to fabricate nanocomposites based on layered silicates for automotive applications in the 1980s. In subsequent years, nano based composites continued to attract increasing attention as a means to enhance the performance of materials. Recently, there has been renewed interest to develop a new class of bioplastic materials reinforced with nanocomposites to replace conventional bioplastics due to environmental concerns. In spite of the successes achieved in development of clay-based nanocomposites, their design and fabrication are often met with numerous limitations. Moreover, their large scale applications are still at their infancy stages. This paper presents a review of the advances made in use of nanoparticle additives in improving the performance of starch based bioplastics. Suggestions on the direction for future research are also made.