Thermal and mechanical properties of fatty acid starch esters

•Films of C6–C18 fatty acid starch esters with DS 1.40–1.73 and DS 2.20–2.63 were compared.•All films showed hydrophobic behavior in contact angle measurements.•In view of thermoplasticity, thermal transitions were studied using DSC and DMTA.•In TGA, products showed increased stability toward pure starch.•Tensile tests revealed strength up to 43MPa for starch hexanoate with DS 1.73. The current study examined thermal and mechanical properties of fatty acid starch esters (FASEs). All highly soluble esters were obtained by the sustainable, homogeneous transesterification of fatty acid vinyl esters in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO). Casted films of products with a degree of substitution (DS) of 1.40–1.73 were compared with highly substituted ones (DS 2.20–2.63). All films were free of any plasticizer additives. Hydrophobic surfaces were characterized by contact angle measurements. Dynamic scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) revealed thermal transitions (Tg, Tm) which were influenced by the internal plasticizing effect of the ester groups. Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) measurements showed the increased thermal stability toward native starch. Tensile tests revealed the decreasing strength and stiffness of the products with increasing ester-group chain length while the elongation increased up to the ester group laurate and after that decreased. Esters of the longest fatty acids, palmitate and stearate turned out to be brittle materials due to super molecular structures of the ester chains such as confirmed by X-ray. Summarized products with a DS 1.40–1.73 featured more “starch-like” properties with tensile strength up to outstanding 43MPa, while products with a DS >2 behaved more “oil-like”. Both classes of esters should be tested as a serious alternative to commercial starch blends and petrol-based plastics. The term Cnumber is attributed to the number of total C-Atoms of the fatty acid (e.g. C6=Hexanoate).